Nucleosome assembly by a complex of CAF-1 and acetylated histones H3/H4

A chromatin assembly complex (CAC) that contains chromatin assembly factor 1 (CAF-1) and the posttranslationally modified histones H3 and H4 is discovered and characterized. A cDNA for p48, the small subunit of CAF-1 and a member of a highly conserved subfamily of WD-repeat proteins, is cloned. Experiments show that the CAC plays a key role in the de novo nucleosome assembly pathway and that the p48 subunit participates in other aspects of histone metabolism.