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Osa associates with the Brahma chromatin remodeling complex and promotes the activation of some target genes
Author(s) -
Collins Russell T.,
Furukawa Takako,
Tanese Naoko,
Treisman Jessica E.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1093/emboj/18.24.7029
Subject(s) - library science , medical school , biology , medicine , medical education , computer science
The yeast SWI/SNF complex and its Drosophila and mammalian homologs are thought to control gene expression by altering chromatin structure, but the mechanism and specificity of this process are not fully understood. The Drosophila osa gene, like yeast SWI1, encodes an AT‐rich interaction (ARID) domain protein. We present genetic and biochemical evidence that Osa is a component of the Brahma complex, the Drosophila homolog of SWI/SNF. The ARID domain of Osa binds DNA without sequence specificity in vitro , but it is sufficient to direct transcriptional regulatory domains to specific target genes in vivo . Endogenous Osa appears to promote the activation of some of these genes. We show evidence that some Brahma‐containing complexes do not contain Osa and that Osa is not required to localize Brahma to chromatin. These data suggest that Osa modulates the function of the Brahma complex.