Histone H1 kinase in exponential and synchronous populations of Chinese hamster fibroblasts.

Nuclear histone kinase activity, specifically histone H1 phosphotransferase activity, was shown to increase in synchronous Chinese hamster cells from the G1/S boundary to late G2/early M phase. Chromatin extracts purified by DEAE-Sephacel chromatography showed a cAMP-independent kinase activity that demonstrated cell cycle dependence and high specificity for histone H1 as the phosphate acceptor in the presence of [gamma-32P] ATP. This activity was purified approximately 40-fold. Using as substrates calf thymus histone H1 subfractions resolved by Bio-Rex 70 ion exchange chromatography, phosphorylation by the nuclear histone H1 kinase indicated that 32P incorporation into H1-2 was at least twice that for H1-1 and H1-3 subfractions. Both amino- and carboxy-terminal fragments generated by N-bromosuccinimide cleavage were phosphorylated. Phosphoamino acid analysis showed phosphothreonine to be approximately twice as abundant as phosphoserine. Histone H1 kinase activity was not activated by cyclic nucleotides, nor inhibited by cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitors or regulatory subunits. There was no effect on activity by Ca2+ alone or in the presence of calmodulin or diacylglycerol. Kinase activity was inhibited by nonhydrolyzable analogs of ATP such as adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate, by 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine which binds to the ATP binding site of the enzyme, and by quercetin. Column fractions enriched in histone H1 kinase were labeled with 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl[8-14C]adenosine, and peptides were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. One band, Mr 67,000, was specifically labeled and may represent the H1 kinase catalytic subunit.