The ubiquitous mammalian chromatin-remodeling SWI/SNF-like BAF complexes play critical roles in tumorigenesis. It was suggested that the direct interaction of BRG1 with the retinoblastoma protein pRB is required for regulation of cell cycle progression by pRB. We present evidence that the BRG1-containing complexes regulate the expression of the cdk inhibitor p21(CIP1/WAF1/SDI). Furthermore, we ...

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) increases the risk for neurodevelopment delay and neuroendocrine reprogramming in both humans and rats. Neuroendocrine reprogramming involves the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene that is epigenetically regulated in the hippocampus. Using a well-characterized rodent model, we have previously shown that IUGR increases GR exon 1.7 mRNA variant and total GR e...

Mutations in SOX10 cause neurocristopathies which display varying degrees of hypopigmentation. Using a sensitized mutagenesis screen, we identified Smarca4 as a modifier gene that exacerbates the phenotypic severity of Sox10 haplo-insufficient mice. Conditional deletion of Smarca4 in SOX10 expressing cells resulted in reduced numbers of cranial and ventral trunk melanoblasts. To define the requ...

Brahma (Brm) and brahma-related gene-1 (Brg1) are mammalian homologues of SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling factor subunits that can regulate both transcriptional activation and repression. Both Brg1 and Brm are mutated or deleted in numerous cancer cell lines, leading to the altered expression of genes that influence cell proliferation and metastasis. Here, we find that the promoters of two such ge...

Genes encoding angiotensin-converting enzymes (Ace and Ace2) are essential for heart function regulation. Cardiac stress enhances Ace, but suppresses Ace2, expression in the heart, leading to a net production of angiotensin II that promotes cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. The regulatory mechanism that underlies the Ace2-to-Ace pathological switch, however, is unknown. Here we report that the ...

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are a type of lethal DNA damage. The repair of DSBs requires tight coordination between the factors modulating chromatin structure and the DNA repair machinery. BRG1, the ATPase subunit of the chromatin remodelling complex Switch/Sucrose non-fermentable (SWI/SNF), is often linked to tumorigenesis and genome instability, and its role in DSB repair remains largely ...

UNLABELLED The SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex regulates gene expression and alters chromatin structures in an ATP-dependent manner. Recent sequencing efforts have shown mutations in BRG1 (SMARCA4), one of two mutually exclusive ATPase subunits in the complex, in a significant number of human lung tumor cell lines and primary non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) clinical specimens. To det...

Changes in nuclear morphology occur during normal development and have been observed during the progression of several diseases. The shape of a nucleus is governed by the balance of forces exerted by nuclear-cytoskeletal contacts and internal forces created by the structure of the chromatin and nuclear envelope. However, factors that regulate the balance of these forces and determine nuclear sh...

Alpha globin expression must be regulated properly to prevent the occurrence of alpha-thalassemias, yet many questions remain unanswered regarding the mechanism of transcriptional activation. Identifying factors that regulate chromatin structure of the endogenous alpha globin locus in developing erythroblasts will provide important mechanistic insight. Here, we demonstrate that the BRG1 catalyt...

Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is a survival factor in melanocytes and melanoma cells. MITF regulates expression of antiapoptotic genes and promotes lineage-specific survival in response to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and to chemotherapeutics. SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling enzymes interact with MITF to regulate MITF target gene expression. We determined that the catalytic s...