title: Chromatin structure visualization by immunoelectron microscopy.
abstract: Antibodies elicited in rabbits by chromatin and by purified histone H2B have been used to study the structure of chromatin by immunoelectron microscopy. Chromatin spread on grids reveals a structure of closely packed spherical particles with an average diameter of 104 A, arranged either in clusters or in linear arrays of beads, some of which have a supercoil-like arrangement. No DNA strings connecting the beads could be observed. Upon antibody binding, the diameter of the particles increases up to 300 A. This size is compatible with a model where one layer of gamma globulin molecules 110 A long encircles a sphere of chromatin 100 A in diameter. The presence of rabbit gamma globulins on the enlarged beads has been verified by the addition of ferritin-labeled goat anti-rabbit gamma globulins. Anti-chromatin sera which react with nonhistone proteins but not with free histones or DNA react with more than 95% of the beads; this suggests that most of the beads contain nonhistone proteins. Since the number of nonhistone proteins is large, it is improbable that each sphere contains a full complement of these proteins. We therefore suggest that the various chromatin spheres contain different types of nonhistone proteins. About 90% of the chromatin spheres reacted with antibodies to histone H2B, suggesting the most of the chromatin beads contain this type of histone.
mesh_terms: D000937:Antigen-Antibody Reactions; D002843:Chromatin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006657:Histones / Q000032:analysis*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008954:Models, Biological; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D009698:Nucleoproteins