Nucleosome assembly during complementary DNA strand synthesis in extracts from mammalian cells

Circular single-stranded phage M13 DNA is used as a template for complementary strand synthesis in cytosolic extracts from proliferating HeLa cells. DNA synthesis is initiated by one or maximally two priming events and typically leads to covalently closed double-stranded reaction products. When carried out in the presence of the nuclear chromatin assembly factor CAF-1, complementary strand synthesis is accompanied by nucleosome assembly. This novel system is very useful for the study of basic biochemical aspects concerning the assembly of nucleosomes. The activity of CAF-1 completely depends on complementary strand synthesis and acts stoichiometrically to promote the assembly of nucleosomes in a noncooperative manner. Apparently, CAF-1 activity is coupled to DNA synthesis via a structural feature of replicating DNA, most likely its partial single strandedness.