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Updated: Jun 14, 2026
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Repressing Gene Transcription by Redirecting Cellular Machinery with Chemical Epigenetic Modifiers
Published on: September 20, 2018
Chromatin remodeling and nuclear receptor signaling
Manop Buranapramest1, Debabrata Chakravarti
1Division of Reproductive Biology Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science
|April 9, 2010
Summary
Nuclear receptors (NRs) regulate gene expression by recruiting chromatin remodelers. These enzymes modify chromatin structure to either activate or repress target genes, controlling essential cellular processes.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Nuclear receptors (NRs) are crucial ligand-dependent transcription factors.
- NRs regulate vital cellular processes including development, metabolism, and homeostasis.
- Gene transcription is often inhibited by chromatin structure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review chromatin remodeling enzymes involved in NR gene control.
- To emphasize the mechanisms of NR-mediated gene repression.
- To elucidate how NRs interact with chromatin remodelers.
Main Methods:
- Review of literature on nuclear receptors and chromatin remodeling.
- Analysis of mechanisms by which NRs recruit histone modifying enzymes.
- Examination of ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers in NR function.
Main Results:
- NRs recruit histone modifying enzymes and ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers.
- Remodelers alter chromatin structure via histone tail modification and DNA-histone disruption.
- Ligand-bound NRs promote transcription by increasing promoter accessibility.
- Ligand-absent NRs recruit remodelers for gene silencing and closed chromatin.
Conclusions:
- Chromatin remodeling is central to both NR-mediated activation and repression.
- NRs utilize distinct remodeling strategies for gene activation and silencing.
- Understanding NR-chromatin interactions is key to comprehending gene regulation.
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