A procedure for the isolation of transcriptionally active nucleosomes was used to monitor changes in chromatin structure during the activation, repression, and superinduction of the protooncogenes c-fos and c-myc. Nuclei were isolated from murine fibroblasts at successive times after stimulation of quiescent cell cultures with serum or platelet-derived growth factor. The nucleosomes released by a brief micrococcal nuclease digestion were fractionated by HgII-affinity chromatography to separate the unfolded nucleosomes of transcriptionally active genes (in which the sulfhydryl groups of histone H3 are accessible for binding to HgII) from the compactly beaded nucleosomes of transcriptionally inert DNA sequences (in which the H3 sulfhydryl groups are not accessible). The DNA sequence contents of the HgII-bound and unbound nucleosome fractions were compared by slot-blot hybridizations to 32P-labeled cloned probes for c-fos and c-myc. The binding of the c-fos and c-myc nucleosomes to the HgII column accurately reflected both the timing and the degree of their expression, as determined by run-off transcription assays with the isolated nuclei. The superinduction of c-fos and c-myc expression by an inhibitor of protein synthesis (cycloheximide) was reflected in the persistence of the unfolded, transcriptionally active state of their component nucleosomes. These results provide direct evidence that rapid and reversible changes in nucleosome topography accompany the program of oncogene expression, and they suggest a way to monitor aberrant gene activity during malignant transformation.