Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 3, 2025

Mapping the Structure-Function Relationships of Disordered Oncogenic Transcription Factors Using Transcriptomic Analysis
Published on: June 27, 2020
FET fusion oncoproteins interact with BRD4 and SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complex subtypes in sarcoma
Malin Lindén1, Christoffer Vannas1, Tobias Österlund1,2
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Abstract:
FET fusion oncoproteins containing one of the FET (FUS, EWSR1, TAF15) family proteins juxtaposed to alternative transcription-factor partners are characteristic of more than 20 types of sarcoma and leukaemia. FET oncoproteins bind to the SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complex, which exists in three subtypes: cBAF, PBAF and GBAF/ncBAF. We used comprehensive biochemical analysis to characterize the interactions between FET oncoproteins, SWI/SNF complexes and the transcriptional coactivator BRD4. Here, we report that FET oncoproteins bind all three main SWI/SNF subtypes cBAF, PBAF and GBAF, and that FET oncoproteins interact indirectly with BRD4 via their shared interaction partner SWI/SNF. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and proteomic analysis showed that FET oncoproteins, SWI/SNF components and BRD4 co-localize on chromatin and interact with mediator and RNA Polymerase II. Our results provide a possible molecular mechanism for the FET-fusion-induced oncogenic transcriptional profiles and may lead to novel therapies targeting aberrant SWI/SNF complexes and/or BRD4 in FET-fusion-caused malignancies.
Related Concept Videos
Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order...
Abnormal Proliferation
TGF - β Signaling Pathway
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...
The Retinoblastoma Gene
The first-ever tumor suppressor gene called Rb was identified in retinoblastoma - a rare eye tumor in children. In inherited forms of the disease, a child inherits one defective copy of the Rb gene, which predisposes them to retinoblastoma. However,...
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...

