Interaction of nucleosome core particles with distamycin and echinomycin: analysis of the effect of DNA sequences.

Two fragments of Xenopus borealis DNA 135 and 189 base-pairs long were separately incorporated into nucleosome core particles by reconstitution with chicken erythrocyte histones, and incubated with echinomycin (a bis-intercalating antitumor antibiotic) or distamycin (a minor groove-binding, non-intercalating antibiotic). Controlled digestion of these defined sequence core particles using DNAase I revealed new cleavage products, indicative of a change in orientation of the DNA molecule on the surface of the nucleosome. This new rotational setting of DNA within the core particle induced by antibiotic binding appears to be practically independent of DNA sequence, although some differences were noted between the patterns of fragments observed in the various experiments, most likely reflecting the exact number and disposition of the antibiotic binding sites.