Histone H1 interphase phosphorylation pattern becomes largely established during G1/S transition in proliferating cells

• Histone H1 is an important constituent of chromatin, and is believed to be involved in regulation of chromatin structure. During the cell cycle, chromatin becomes locally decondensed in S phase, highly condensed during metaphase and again decondensed before re-entry into G1. This has been connected to increasing phosphorylation of H1 histones during the cell cycle. However, many of these experiments have been performed in non-human and human cancer   cell lines, and by the use of cell synchronization techniques and cell cycle-arresting drugs. In this study, we have investigated the H1 subtype composition and phosphorylation pattern in the cell cycle. Exponentially growing normal human activated T cells and Jurkat lymphoblastoid cells were sorted by fluorescence activated cell sorting into G1, S and G2/M populations, without the use of cell cycle arresting drugs. We found that the H1.5 protein level increased after T-cell activation. Our data indicate that serine phosphorylation of H1 subtypes occurred to a large extent in late G1 phase or early S, while some additional serine phosphorylation took place during S, G2 and M phases. Furthermore, our data suggest that the newly synthesized H1 molecules during S phase also achieve a similar phosphorylation pattern as the previous ones. Jurkat cells showed more extended H1.5 phosphorylation in G1 compared with T cells, a difference that can be explained by faster cell growth and/or the presence of enhanced H1 kinase activity in G1 in Jurkat cells. In conclusion, our data is consistent with a model where a major part of interphase H1 serine phosphorylation takes place within a narrow time window during the G1/Stransition. This implies that H1 serine phosphorylation may be coupled to changes in chromatin structure necessary for DNA replication.

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