Electrophoretic study of plant histones: Comparison with vertebrate histones

The histones of seven plant species (barley, leek, onion, pea, radish, rye, and wheat) were isolated and compared to the histones of calf thymus and rat liver using electrophoresis on polyacrylamide-urea and polyacrylamide-SDS gels. It was found that the F1 histone of plants contains more subspecies and has generally higher molecular weights than their animal histone counterparts. Histones F3 of plants and animals have identical molecular weights and similar but not identical mobilities on polyacrylamide-urea gels. No histones were found in plants which have molecular weights and mobilities on polyacrylamide-urea gels which resemble the values for histones F2a2 and F2b of animals, but instead the series of histones observed differ from any of the animal histones. These plant histones may represent either substantially modified forms of F2a2 and F2b, or else may be a different class of histone molecules unique to plants. Fractions F2al in plants and animals are identical in electrophoretic behavior, but seem to differ in degree of acetylation.     

Interaction of nucleoplasmin with core histones

Nucleoplasmin is one of the most abundant proteins in Xenopus laevis oocytes, and it has been involved in the chromatin remodeling that takes place immediately after fertilization. This molecule has been shown to be responsible for the removal of the sperm-specific proteins and deposition of somatic histones onto the male pronuclear chromatin. To better understand the latter process, we have used sedimentation velocity, sedimentation equilibrium, and sucrose gradient fractionation analysis to show that the pentameric form of nucleoplasmin binds to a histone octamer equivalent consisting of equal amounts of the four core histones, H2A, H2B, H3, and H4, without any noticeable preference for any of these proteins. Removal of the histone N-terminal "tail" domains or the major C-terminal polyglutamic tracts of nucleoplasmin did not alter these binding properties. These results indicate that interactions other than those electrostatic in nature (likely hydrophobic) also play a critical role in the formation of the complex between the negatively charged nucleoplasmin and positively charged histones. Although the association of histones with nucleoplasmin may involve some ionic interactions, the interaction process is not electrostatically driven.     

Low-density lipoprotein complexes with histones.

Low-density lopoproteins (LDL) form soluble and insoluble complexes with the total histone and its fractions. The bulk of these complexes is formed by the arginine-rich histone fraction. LDL are bound with histones by means of ion binding.     

Nuclear localization of alpha-synuclein and its interaction with histones

The aggregation of alpha-synuclein is believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease as well as other neurodegenerative disorders ("synucleinopathies"). However, the function of alpha-synuclein under physiologic and pathological conditions is unknown, and the mechanism of alpha-synuclein aggregation is not well understood. Here we show that alpha-synuclein forms a tight 2:1 complex with histones and that the fibrillation rate of alpha-synuclein is dramatically accelerated in the presence of histones in vitro. We also describe the presence of alpha-synuclein and its co-localization with histones in the nuclei of nigral neurons from mice exposed to a toxic insult (i.e., injections of the herbicide paraquat). These observations indicate that translocation into the nucleus and binding with histones represent potential mechanisms underlying alpha-synuclein pathophysiology.     

Complexes of viroids with histones and other proteins.

Complexes of potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV) with nuclear proteins have been studied by in vitro reconstitution of the complexes and by isolation and characterization of in vivo complexes under non-dissociating conditions. For in vitro reconstitution, nuclear proteins were separated by SDS-gel-electrophoresis, renatured and blotted onto nitrocellulose filters, and incubated with viroid. The viroid-protein complexes were crosslinked covalently, and the viroid containing protein bands were detected by northern hybridization with a radioactive cDNA probe. The histones, a 41,000 dalton protein and to a small extent a 31,000 dalton protein were found in complexes with viroids. Raising the strength to 0.4 M NaCl destroys the complexes with the 41,000 dalton proteins but not those with the histones. From nucleoli, which are known to obtain the majority of viroids under non-dissociating conditions (Schumacher et al., (1983) EMBO J. 2, 1549-1555), a nucleosomal fraction was prepared. Viroids were found predominantly in this nucleosomal fraction. They are bound in a complex of 12-15 svedberg units.     

Interactions of Hsp90 with histones and related peptides

The 90 kDa heat shock protein (Hsp90) induces the condensation of the chromatin structure [Csermely, P., Kajtár, J., Hollósi, M., Oikarinen, J., and Somogyi, J. (1994) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 202, 1657-1663]. In our present studies we used surface plasmon resonance measurements to demonstrate that Hsp90 binds histones H1, H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 with high affinity having dissociation constants in the submicromolar range. Strong binding of the C-terminal peptide of histone H1 containing the SPKK-motif and a pentaeicosa-peptide including the Hsp90 bipartite nuclear localization signal sequence was also observed. However, a lysine/arginine-rich peptide of casein, and the lysine-rich platelet factor 4 did not display a significant interaction with Hsp90. Histones and positively charged peptides modulated the Hsp90-associated kinase activity. Interactions between Hsp90, histones, and high mobility group (HMG) protein-derived peptides raise the possibility of the involvement of Hsp90 in chromatin reorganization during steroid action, mitosis, or after cellular stress.     

Trout-liver histones

1. The histones of trout liver were examined and four main fractions (f1, f2b, f2a and f3) were isolated and characterized. 2. The amino acid analyses, N-terminal group analyses and starch-gel electrophoresis patterns are remarkably similar to the corresponding fractions of calf thymus. 3. The group f2a was also separated into two subfractions, f2al and f2a2, which are similar to those of calf thymus.