Shimojima, T., Okada, M., Nakayama, T., Ueda, H., Okawa, K., Iwamatsu, A., Handa, H., Hirose, S. (2003). Drosophila FACT contributes to Hox gene expression through physical and functional interactions with GAGA factor. Genes Dev. 17(13): 1605--1616.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0160948
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
Chromatin structure plays a critical role in the regulation of transcription. Drosophila GAGA factor directs chromatin remodeling to its binding sites. We show here that Drosophila FACT (facilitates chromatin transcription), a heterodimer of dSPT16 and dSSRP1, is associated with GAGA factor through its dSSRP1 subunit, binds to a nucleosome, and facilitates GAGA factor-directed chromatin remodeling. Moreover, genetic interactions between Trithorax-like encoding GAGA factor and spt16 implicate the GAGA factor-FACT complex in expression of Hox genes Ultrabithorax, Sex combs reduced, and Abdominal-B. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments indicated the presence of the GAGA factor-FACT complex in the regulatory regions of Ultrabithorax and Abdominal-B. These data illustrate a crucial role of FACT in the modulation of chromatin structure for the regulation of gene expression.
