title: Altered control of cellular proliferation in the absence of mammalian brahma (SNF2alpha).
abstract: The mammalian SWI-SNF complex is an evolutionarily conserved, multi-subunit machine, involved in chromatin remodelling during transcriptional activation. Within this complex, the BRM (SNF2alpha) and BRG1 (SNF2beta) proteins are mutually exclusive subunits that are believed to affect nucleosomal structures using the energy of ATP hydrolysis. In order to characterize possible differences in the function of BRM and BRG1, and to gain further insights into the role of BRM-containing SWI-SNF complexes, the mouse BRM gene was inactivated by homologous recombination. BRM-/- mice develop normally, suggesting that an observed up-regulation of the BRG1 protein can functionally replace BRM in the SWI-SNF complexes of mutant cells. Nonetheless, adult mutant mice were approximately 15% heavier than control littermates. This may be caused by increased cell proliferation, as demonstrated by a higher mitotic index detected in mutant livers. This is supported further by the observation that mutant embryonic fibroblasts were significantly deficient in their ability to arrest in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle in response to cell confluency or DNA damage. These studies suggest that BRM participates in the regulation of cell proliferation in adult mice.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Biologie du Développement, URA 1960 du CNRS, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barra
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muchardt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Camus
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Babinet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yaniv
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002455:Cell Division; D004249:DNA Damage; D004265:DNA Helicases; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016193:G1 Phase; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010641:Phenotype; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C499503:Smarca2 protein, mouse; D014157:Transcription Factors; C513194:Smarca4 protein, mouse; D004265:DNA Helicases