The effects of histones, in vitro age, and culture state on the digestion of DNA by micrococcal nuclease and deoxyribonuclease I.

Nuclei from confluent and mitotically arrested populations of human diploid fibroblast-like cells were subjected to digestion by micrococcal nuclease and deoxyribonuclease (DNase I) following the removal of various histone components by salt extraction. There was no age or culture state variation in the susceptibility of DNA to micrococcal nuclease digestion. There was an age related inhibition of DNA digestion by DNase I in nuclei from older confluent cells before and after the removal of H1 histone but not after the removal of core particle histones. This inhibition was not detected in older arrested populations. These results indicate that an age-related masking by nucleosome core histones may limit the accessibility of DNA to enzymatic activities in older confluent cells. Since this inhibition was absent in older arrested populations, the importance of limited DNA accessibility as a primary cause of cellular senescence is questionable.