Chemistry Commons^™

Mutational Analysis Of The Stability Of The H2a And H2b Histone Monomers, Matthew R. Stump, Lisa M. Gloss

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

The eukaryotic histone heterodimer H2A–H2B folds through an obligatory dimeric intermediate that forms in a nearly diffusion-limited association reaction in the stopped-flow dead time. It is unclear whether there is partial folding of the isolated monomers before association. To address the possible contributions of structure in the monomers to the rapid association, we characterized H2A and H2B monomers in the absence of their heterodimeric partner. By far-UV circular dichroism, the H2A and H2B monomers are 15% and 31% helical, respectively—significantly less than observed in X-ray crystal structures. Acrylamide quenching of the intrinsic Tyr fluorescence was indicative of tertiary structure. The …