Bromodomain 4: a cellular Swiss army knife
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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Sequential Salt Extractions for the Analysis of Bulk Chromatin Binding Properties of Chromatin Modifying Complexes
Published on: October 2, 2017
Ballachanda N Devaiah1, Anne Gegonne1, Dinah S Singer2
1Experimental Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Abstract:
Bromodomain protein 4 (BRD4) is a transcriptional and epigenetic regulator that plays a pivotal role in cancer and inflammatory diseases. BRD4 binds and stays associated with chromatin during mitosis, bookmarking early G1 genes and reactivating transcription after mitotic silencing. BRD4 plays an important role in transcription, both as a passive scaffold via its recruitment of vital transcription factors and as an active kinase that phosphorylates RNA polymerase II, directly and indirectly regulating transcription. Through its HAT activity, BRD4 contributes to the maintenance of chromatin structure and nucleosome clearance. This review summarizes the known functions of BRD4 and proposes a model in which BRD4 actively coordinates chromatin structure and transcription.
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