Experimental evidence for asymmetrical shielding of nucleosomal DNA by histones

Electron spin resonance study of Mn (II) binding to chromatin and derivatives, including core particles, shows that Mn (II) is a good probe for testing the overall electrostatic balance of the nucleoproteic complex as well as DNA accessibility. Experimental results are in good agreement with a recent model proposed (Mirzabekov A. D. and Rich A. (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76, 1118-1121), for the core particle, in which an asymmetrical shielding of DNA by the protein core is assumed. Furthermore, it was found that the histone H1 hinders a number of charges on the linker DNA in a proportion equal to the net positive charge of the histone itself. This result is interpreted as due to a tighter interaction between the linker DNA and the core histones in the presence of histone H1.