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Metabolism

Transcriptionally activating brown fat

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 16, page 125 (2015)Cite this article

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The transcription factor PR domain-containing 16 (PRDM16) is a zinc finger protein that activates BAT-selective genes; it was previously found to promote the differentiation of mouse myogenic precursor cells into brown adipocytes while inhibiting myogenic differentiation. PRDM16 is also required for the maintenance of BAT and the differentiation into beige fat in adult mice; however, the mechanisms of transcriptional regulation by PRDM16 are poorly understood.

Now, two research groups report in Genes & Development that PRDM16 activates BAT-selective genes by interacting directly with the Mediator complex subunit MED1, and that this involves changes in chromatin architecture.

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References

  1. Harms, M. J. et al. PRDM16 binds MED1 and controls chromatin architecture to determine a brown fat transcriptional program. Genes Dev. 29, 298–307 (2015)

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  2. Iida, S. et al. PRDM16 enhances nuclear receptor-dependent transcription of the brown fat-specific Ucp1 gene through interactions with Mediator subunit MED1. Genes Dev. 29, 308–321 (2015)

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  1. Kim Baumann
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Allen, B. L. & Taatjes, D. J. The Mediator complex: a central integrator of transcription. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. (2015)

Heinz, S. et al. The selection and function of cell type-specific enhancers. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. (2015)

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Baumann, K. Transcriptionally activating brown fat. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 16, 125 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm3957

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