The identity of conformational states of reconstituted and native histone octamers

Histone octamers were reconstituted from the following preparations: (a) natural histone H3‐H4 tetramer and histone H2A‐H2B dimer, either selectively extracted from chromatin with solutions of sodium chloride or prepared by dissociation of the natural octamer; (b) acid‐denatured core histones, either an unfractionated mixture or individually purified proteins. Complexes assembled from these histones elute from exclusion chromatography columns with octamer size as verified by cross‐linking with dimethylsuberimidate. The reconstituted octamers all crystallize in the same form of helical tubes as the natural octamer. Copyright © 1983, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved