Ann-Kristin Östlund Farrants

Professor Ann-Kristin Östlund Farrants

Stockholm University

The Wenner-Gren Institute
Cell Biology
Svante Arrheniusväg 20B, room F 448/F 447
106 91 Stockholm
Sweden

  

Email:anki.ostlund@wgi.su.se
Phone: 00 46 8 16 40 97
Fax:00 46 8 15 98 37

 

Chromatin and Chromatin Remodelling:
The function of ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling complexes

The organisation of DNA into chromatin, with its smallest unit the nucleosome, plays a role in gene regulation, replication, recombination, and repair. The chromatin forms an obstacle for a number of protein factors that need access to the DNA. Several protein complexes have been identified that change the chromatin structure and make the DNA more accessible. These complexes regulate the structure either by acetylation, phosphorylation and methylation of the histone proteins in the nucleosome, or by changing the histone-DNA contacts using ATP. The latter complexes are called ATP-dependent chomatin remodelling complexes and several different types exist.

The central question in the projects presented is to understand the function of different ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling complexes in mammalian cells. We focus on two different types of complex, the SWI/SNF family of complexes, and the ISWI-complex B-WICH. The SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complexes are involved mainly in transcription, whereas the ISWI-complexes are involved in replication, nucleosome spacing and transcription.

Selected publications

The chromatin remodelling complex B-WICH changes the chromatin structure and recruits histone acetyl-transferases to active rRNA genes.

Vintermist A, Böhm S, Sadeghifar F, Louvet E, Mansén A, Percipalle P, Ostlund Farrants AK.

PLoS One. 2011 Apr 29;6(4):e19184.

PMID: 21559432 

Variations in the composition of mammalian SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complexes.

Ryme J, Asp P, Böhm S, Cavellán E, Farrants AK.

J Cell Biochem. 2009 Oct 15;108(3):565-76.

PMID: 19650111 

SWI/SNF associates with nascent pre-mRNPs and regulates alternative pre-mRNA processing.

Tyagi A, Ryme J, Brodin D, Ostlund Farrants AK, Visa N.

PLoS Genet. 2009 May;5(5):e1000470. Epub 2009 May 8.

PMID: 19424417

The association of Brahma with the Balbiani ring 1 gene of Chironomus tentans studied by immunoelectron microscopy and chromatin immunoprecipitation.

Botelho SC, Tyagi A, Hessle V, Farrants AK, Visa N.

Insect Mol Biol. 2008 Sep;17(5):505-13.

PMID: 18754808

The histone acetyltransferase PCAF associates with actin and hnRNP U for RNA polymerase II transcription.
Obrdlik A, Kukalev A, Louvet E, Farrants AK, Caputo L, Percipalle P.
Mol Cell Biol. 2008 Oct;28(20):6342-57. Epub 2008 Aug 18.

 

 

 

 


 

Contacts

Cell Biology  Per Ljungdahl, Phone: +46 8 16 41 01

Developmental Biology Christos Samakovlis, Phone: + 46 8 16 15 64

Immunology Marita Troye Blomberg, Phone: + 46 8 16 41 64

Physiology Barbara Cannon, Phone:+ 46 8 16 41 20


 

Imaging Facility, IFSU

Zeiss LSM 780

Vacancies