Cell cycle regulated synthesis of an abundant transcript for human chromosomal protein HMG-17

The abundance and cell cycle dependent expression of the mRNA for human nonhistone protein HMG-17 were studied in synchronized HeLa cells. Slot blot analysis indicates that the HMG-17 mRNA is a very abundant message, significantly more so than histone or actin mRNA. RNA prepared from tissue culture cells contains higher amounts of HMG-17 transcripts than RNA prepared from liver suggesting a correlation between the rate of cell division and HMG-17 mRNA levels. HMG-17 mRNA is present in the cells throughout the cell cycle however there is a significant increase in the mRNA levels late in S phase suggesting that the protein is deposited on chromatin after nucleosome assembly. Synthesis of the HMG-17 transcript is not coupled to DNA replication suggesting that the cell cycle related expression during late S phase is regulated in a different manner from that of the nucleosomal histones.