Burns, Loree GriffinPeterson, Craig L.2022-08-232022-08-231997-08-012009-03-24Mol Cell Biol. 1997 Aug;17(8):4811-9.0270-7306 (Print)9234737https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/38583The Saccharomyces cerevisiae SWI-SNF complex is a 2-MDa protein assembly that is required for the function of many transcriptional activators. Here we describe experiments on the role of the SWI-SNF complex in activation of transcription by the yeast activator GAL4. We find that while SWI-SNF activity is not required for the GAL4 activator to bind to and activate transcription from nucleosome-free binding sites, the complex is required for GAL4 to bind to and function at low-affinity, nucleosomal binding sites in vivo. This SWI-SNF dependence can be overcome by (i) replacing the low-affinity sites with higher-affinity, consensus GAL4 binding sequences or (ii) placing the low-affinity sites into a nucleosome-free region. These results define the criteria for the SWI-SNF dependence of gene expression and provide the first in vivo evidence that the SWI-SNF complex can regulate gene expression by modulating the DNA binding of an upstream activator protein.en-USBinding SitesChromosomal Proteins, Non-HistoneDNA FootprintingDNA, FungalDNA-Binding ProteinsFungal ProteinsGalactoseGene Expression Regulation, FungalGenes, Fungal*Nuclear ProteinsNucleosomesPromoter Regions (Genetics)Saccharomyces cerevisiae*Saccharomyces cerevisiae ProteinsTrans-Activation (Genetics)Trans-ActivatorsTranscription FactorsLife SciencesMedicine and Health SciencesJournal Articlehttps://escholarship.umassmed.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2448&context=oapubs&unstamped=1https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/1449794946oapubs/1449