Group of Epigenetics, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 34/5 Vavilov St., Moscow, 119334, Russia.
Group of Chromatin Biology, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 34/5 Vavilov St., Moscow, 119334, Russia.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2021 May;78(9):4125-4141. doi: 10.1007/s00018-021-03776-z. Epub 2021 Feb 2.
The Drosophila GAGA factor (GAF) is a multifunctional protein implicated in nucleosome organization and remodeling, activation and repression of gene expression, long distance enhancer-promoter communication, higher order chromosome structure, and mitosis. This broad range of activities poses questions about how a single protein can perform so many seemingly different and unrelated functions. Current studies argue that GAF acts as a "pioneer" factor, generating nucleosome-free regions of chromatin for different classes of regulatory elements. The removal of nucleosomes from regulatory elements in turn enables other factors to bind to these elements and carry out their specialized functions. Consistent with this view, GAF associates with a collection of chromatin remodelers and also interacts with proteins implicated in different regulatory functions. In this review, we summarize the known activities of GAF and the functions of its protein partners.
果蝇 GAGA 因子（GAF）是一种多功能蛋白，涉及核小体组织和重塑、基因表达的激活和抑制、长距离增强子-启动子通讯、高级染色体结构以及有丝分裂。这种广泛的活性引发了一个问题，即单一蛋白如何能够执行如此多看似不同和不相关的功能。目前的研究认为，GAF 充当“先驱”因子，为不同类别的调控元件生成无核小体染色质区域。调控元件中核小体的去除反过来又使其他因子能够结合到这些元件上并发挥其专门功能。与这一观点一致，GAF 与一组染色质重塑因子相关联，并且还与涉及不同调控功能的蛋白质相互作用。在这篇综述中，我们总结了 GAF 的已知活性及其蛋白伴侣的功能。
