Effects of Thyrotropin on the Phosphorylation of Histones and Nonhistone Phosphoproteins in Micrococcal Nuclease-Sensitive and Resistant Thyroid Chromatin*

Actively transcribed regions of chromatin are more susceptible than bulk chromatin to digestion by nucleases, and useful information about the composition and structure of active chromatin may be obtained by studying the chromatin fragments released from nuclei by limited nuclease digestion. In the present study, we have used micrococcal nuclease to investigate the effects of TSH on protein phosphorylation in nuclease-sensitive fractions of calf thyroid chromatin. Batches of calf thyroid slices were incubated for 2 h with 32Pi, with or without 50 mU/ml TSH. Nuclei were then prepared and the distribution of 32P-labeled histones, high mobility group (HMG) proteins, and other acid-soluble phosphoproteins between micrococcal nuclease-sensitive and resistant fractions of chromatin was examined. TSH increased the amount of 32P incorporated into HMG 14 and the histones H1 and H3. Hormone-dependent increases in the 32P-labeling of H1 and H3 were not selectively associated with micrococcal nuclease-sensitive chromatin. In contrast, [32P] HMG-14 was preferentially solubilized from nuclei by micrococcal nuclease. This lends support to the view that TSH-induced effects on the structure and function of transcriptionally active chromatin may be mediated in part by phosphorylation of HMG 14.