Recruitment of the SWI-SNF chromatin remodeling complex as a mechanism of gene activation by the glucocorticoid receptor τ1 activation domain

The SWI-SNF complex has been shown to alter nucleosome conformation in an ATP-dependent manner, leading to increased accessibility of nucleosomal DNA to transcription factors. In this study, we show that the SWI-SNF complex can potentiate the activity of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) through the N-terminal transactivation domain, τ1, in both yeast and mammalian cells. GR-τ1 can directly interact with purified SWI-SNF complex, and mutations in τ1 that affect the transactivation activity in vivo also directly affect τ1 interaction with SWI-SNF. Furthermore, the SWI-SNF complex can stimulate τ1- driven transcription from chromatin templates in vitro. Taken together, these results support a model in which the GR can directly recruit the SWI-SNF complex to target promoters during glucocorticoid-dependent gene activation. We also provide evidence that the SWI-SNF and SAGA complexes represent independent pathways of τ1-mediated activation but play overlapping roles that are able to compensate for one another under some conditions.