Control of DNA synthesis in tissue culture cells.

Eukaryotic DNA is functionally divided into thousands of replicons, each of which may be duplicated at a characteristic time within the DNA synthetic (S) period. Our approach toward an understanding of the molecular mechanisms which control orderly eukaryotic DNA synthesis has been: (a) to devise a method of cell synchrony in a suitable tissue culture system wherein all cells in the population enter and traverse the S period with a high degree of synchrony; (b) to determine, utilizing this system, precisely when during the S period critical events and macromolecular syntheses occur; and (c) to examine, by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, the spectrum of proteins which become associated with chromatin during the S period in such a way as to suggest their involvement with DNA synthesis. Possible mechanisms for control are discussed based on the results presented here.