Subtype-specific cyclic AMP-dependent histone H1 phosphorylation at the differentiation of mouse neuroblastoma cells

At the initial phase of cell differentiation in mouse neuroblastoma (N18) induced by dibutyrylcyclic AMP (dbcAMP), an additional site of histone H1 was extensively phosphorylated. Forskolin and various phosphodiesterase inhibitors also induced both cell differentiation and H1 phosphorylation at the identical site. The phosphorylation preferentially occurred in a single H1 subtype (H1c) among the five (H1a-e) fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography. The three H1 subtypes of N18 (H1c, H1d, and H1e) were phosphorylated in vitro, and their amino acid sequences of the phosphopeptides were identical to the known sequence of rabbit H1 peptides containing a serine 37 residue. However, the amount of H1a and H1b phosphorylations was negligible. The serine residue was replaced by threonine residue in H1a, and H1b did not have a homologous peptide. The tryptic phosphopeptides of H1 in N18 were identical to that in rat liver H1 induced by glucagon (Langan, T.A. (1969) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 64, 1276-1283). The results indicate that 1) the response of H1 subtypes to cAMP-dependent protein kinase in vivo and in vitro is H1 subtype-specific, and 2) the H1c phosphorylation may play an important role in the restrictive area of chromatin in both cell differentiation and hormonal stimulation mediated by cAMP.