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  • The EMBO Journal (2006) 25, 1690 - 1699
  • doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601074

Published online: 6 April 2006

Requirement for SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex in Tat-mediated activation of the HIV-1 promoter

Céline Tréand1,2,3,4, Isaure du Chéné5, Vanessa Brès5,a, Rosemary Kiernan5, Richard Benarous1,2,3,4, Monsef Benkirane5 and Stéphane Emiliani1,2,3,4

  1. Institut Cochin, Département de Génétique et Développement, Paris, France
  2. Inserm, U567, Paris, France
  3. CNRS, UMR 8104, Paris, France
  4. Université Paris 5, Faculté de Médecine René Descartes, UM 3, Paris, France
  5. Institut de Génétique Humaine, CNRSUPR1142, Montpellier, France

Correspondence to:

Stéphane Emiliani, Institut Cochin, Département Maladies Infectieuses, 27 rue du faubourg Saint Jacques, Gustave Roussy, 75014 Paris, France. Tel.: +33 1 40 51 65 76; Fax: +33 1 40 51 65 70; E-mail: emiliani@cochin.inserm.fr

aPresent address: Regulatory Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA

Received 12 April 2005; Accepted 8 March 2006

Activation of the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) promoter in infected cells requires the sequential recruitment of several cellular factors to facilitate the formation of a processive elongation complex. The nucleosomal reorganization of the HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) observed upon Tat stimulation suggests that chromatin-remodeling complexes could play a role during this process. Here, we reported that Tat interacts directly with Brm, a DNA-dependent ATPase subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex, to activate the HIV-1 LTR. Inhibition of Brm via small interfering RNAs impaired Tat-mediated transactivation of an integrated HIV-1 promoter. Furthermore, Brm is recruited in vivo to the HIV-1 LTR in a Tat-dependent manner. Interestingly, we found that Tat/Brm interaction is regulated by Tat lysine 50 acetylation. These data show the requirement of Tat-mediated recruitment of SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex to HIV-1 promoter in the activation of the LTR.

  • Keywords:

    • acetylation,
    • chromatin,
    • HIV-1,
    • SWI/SNF complex,
    • transcription