Abstract
THE structure of chromatin, and the problems of organizing large lengths of DNA within the cell nucleus, are currently of considerable interest. It now appears established that the agents of chromosome structure are the histones found in conjunction with DNA in the chromosome, which may also act at some stage of genetic regulation. Of the five major types of histone fraction normally associated with mammalian genetic material, the lysine-rich histone F1 (or histone I) has some properties which set it apart from the others. It contains a very high proportion of lysine (27%), alanine (24%) and proline (9%) residues, these three alone making up more than 60% of the 216 residues of the molecule. As expected from the high proline content, F1 forms very little α-helix1 in aqueous salt solutions ; it also shows less tendency to aggregate than the other fractions. Interchain interactions, however, involving a specific section of the molecule are induced by salt2,3; a proposed scheme for this interaction, involving an antiparallel alignment of chain segments, has been presented3.
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BRADBURY, E., CARPENTER, B. & RATTLE, H. Magnetic Resonance Studies of Deoxyribonucleoprotein. Nature 241, 123–126 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/241123a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/241123a0
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