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Testing for association between MeCP2 and the brahma-associated SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex

Nature Genetics volume 38, pages 962–964 (2006)Cite this article

A Correspondence to this article was published on 01 September 2006

To the Editor:

The methyl-CpG binding protein MeCP2 is encoded by an X-linked gene that is mutated in patients with the neurological disorder Rett Syndrome (RTT). Harikrishnan and colleagues report that MeCP2 functions through association with a brahma-containing SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex1. Their conclusion is supported by biochemical evidence that MeCP2 coimmunoprecipitates and cofractionates with brahma (brm) plus other components of SWI/SNF in extracts of mouse NIH3T3 cells, and by immunocytochemical evidence that brahma and MeCP2 colocalize in NIH3T3 cell nuclei. Previous studies, by contrast, claim that MeCP2 purified from rat brain lacks stably associated proteins2, and SWI/SNF complexes purified by different methods are devoid of MeCP2 (ref. 3). In response to this discrepancy, we reinvestigated the relationship between MeCP2 and brm.

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Figure 1: MeCP2 neither copurifies nor cofractionates with the SWI/SNF complex.
Figure 2: MeCP2 is concentrated in condensed heterochromatin regions, whereas brm is not.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 333 Cassell Drive, Suite 3000, Triad Technology Center, Baltimore, 21224, Maryland, USA

    Keping Hu & Weidong Wang

  2. Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JR, Scotland, UK

    Xinsheng Nan & Adrian Bird

Authors
  1. Keping Hu
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  2. Xinsheng Nan
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  3. Adrian Bird
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  4. Weidong Wang
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Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

MeCP2 purified from NIH3T3 cells has no stably associated proteins and does not co-immunoprecipitate with brahma and BRG1. (PDF 431 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

The brm antibody used in Harikrishnan's study reacts well with human brm but poorly with mouse brm. (PDF 135 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

MeCP2 immunoprecipitated from HeLa nuclear extract has no stably associated proteins, as revealed by Coomassie staining. (PDF 9 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 4

MeCP2 is enriched in condensed chromatin regions, whereas brm is not. (PDF 48 kb)

Supplementary Note (PDF 101 kb)

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Hu, K., Nan, X., Bird, A. et al. Testing for association between MeCP2 and the brahma-associated SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex. Nat Genet 38, 962–964 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0906-962

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