Sodium n-Butyrate Causes Reversible Decrease in Condensed Chromatin Clumps in HeLa Cells

Abstract
There is a marked decrease in condensed chromatin clumps in HeLa cells treated with sodium n-butyrate for 24 hr. This change is rapidly reversible, with chromatin clumps reappearing 15 min after removal of the n-butyrate. These reversible morphological changes are closely correlated with hyper-acetylation of histones in n-butyrate-treated cells, and may represent a morphological expression of the biochemical modification of histones.