Neutral lipids in DNA, histone and nonhistone fractions of Ehrlich ascites tumor cell chromatin.

Lipid content and composition of DNA, histone and nonhistone proteins of Ehrlich ascites tumor cell chromatin were investigated. All fractions contained varying amounts of lipids, mostly neutral lipids, with different quantitative distribution. The DNA fraction was characterized by elevated total cholesterol level (37%); the histone fraction by high glycerol ester content (62%); and the nonhistone protein fraction by high percentage of glycerol ethers (22%). The results suggest that neutral lipids are integral parts of tumor cell nucleoproteins.