de la Serna, Ivana L.Carlson, Kerri A.Imbalzano, Anthony N.2022-08-232022-08-232001-02-152011-02-09Nat Genet. 2001 Feb;27(2):187-90. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/84826">Link to article on publisher's site</a>1061-4036 (Linking)10.1038/8482611175787https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/34868Mammalian SWI/SNF complexes are ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes that have been implicated in the regulation of gene expression, cell-cycle control and oncogenesis. MyoD is a muscle-specific regulator able to induce myogenesis in numerous cell types. To ascertain the requirement for chromatin remodeling enzymes in cellular differentiation processes, we examined MyoD-mediated induction of muscle differentiation in fibroblasts expressing dominant-negative versions of the human brahma-related gene-1 (BRG1) or human brahma (BRM), the ATPase subunits of two distinct SWI/SNF enzymes. We find that induction of the myogenic phenotype is completely abrogated in the presence of the mutant enzymes. We further demonstrate that failure to induce muscle-specific gene expression correlates with inhibition of chromatin remodeling in the promoter region of an endogenous muscle-specific gene. Our results demonstrate that SWI/SNF enzymes promote MyoD-mediated muscle differentiation and indicate that these enzymes function by altering chromatin structure in promoter regions of endogenous, differentiation-specific loci.en-USAdenosine TriphosphatasesAnimalsCell DifferentiationDNA HelicasesGene Expression RegulationMiceMusclesMyoD ProteinNuclear ProteinsPromoter Regions, GeneticTranscription FactorsCell BiologyJournal Articlehttps://escholarship.umassmed.edu/imbalzano/91773785imbalzano/9