Chromatin remodelling: Looking vulnerable

摘要

Four recent papers have highlighted the importance of the disruption of thechromatin-modifying SWI/SNF axis in human cancer and how this might prove to be a widespread Achilles heel. Montse Sanchez-Cespedes and colleagues investigated which genetic alterations can promote the development of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and found that approximately 6% of SCLCs have lost the expression of MYC-associated factor X (MAX). The binding of the SWI/SNF ATPase subunit BRG1 (also known as SMARCA4), which is present in both BRM/BRGl-associated factor (BAF) and polybromo BRGl-associated (PBAF) SWI/SNF complexes, to the MAX promoter was required for the increased expression of MAX in response to glucocorticoids.