Transcribing chromatin is not preferentially enriched with acetylated histones

Chromatin fragments of the RNA polymerase II-transcriptional complex were purified from the micrococcal nuclease digest of rat liver nuclei in the presence of n-butyrate, a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis in Triton acid-urea revealed that the extent of histone acetylation of the complex did not differ markedly from that of the total chromatin.