DNA degradation in isolated rat liver nuclei

Purified rat liver nuclei were incubated at 4°C. After different intervals of incubation aliquots of the nuclear suspension were taken and DNA was extracted by a common SDS-phenol-chloroform procedure. The fractionation of DNA by agar gel electrophoresis revealed large DNA fragments. It was shown that the well-known DNA degradation to monomers and its multiples is preceeded by an earlier breakdown of DNA into characteristic large fragments.