An H3 histone-specific kinase isolated from bovine thymus chromatin

A substantial portion of the histone phosphorylating activity of bovine thymus chromatin can be isolated by extraction in 0.2 M NaCl. The specificity of this extract for either free histones or washed chromatin substrates was compared. The salt-extracted kinase enzymes favor H2b as the major acceptor when whole free histone is the substrate and H3 when the substrate is intact chromatin. The H3 kinase activity of bovine thymus tissue has been purified free from other detectable histone kinase activities by ammonium sulfate fractionation and is highly specific for H3 histone when assayed either with chromatin or isolated whole histone. The activity is cAMP-independent. Tryptic peptide mapping of the labeled H3 histone reveals a single site of phosphorylation. This site appears to be identical with the major site of metaphase-associated H3 phosphorylation in hepatoma tissue culture cells. No corresponding H3 phosphorylation has been detected in thymus tissue in vivo.