The microphthalmia transcription factor (Mitf ) activates melanocyte-specific gene expression, is critical for survival and proliferation of melanocytes during development, and has been described as an oncogene in malignant melanoma. SWI/SNF complexes are ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling enzymes that play a role in many developmental processes. To determine the requirement for SWI/SNF enzymes in melanocyte differentiation, we introduced Mitf into fibroblasts that inducibly express dominant negative versions of the SWI/SNF ATPases, Brahma or Brahma-related gene 1 (BRG1). These dominant negative SWI/SNF components have been shown to inhibit gene activation events that normally require SWI/SNF enzymes. We found that Mitf-mediated activation of a subset of endogenous melanocyte-specific genes required SWI/SNF enzymes but that cell-cycle regulation occurred independently of SWI/SNF function. Activation of tyrosinase-related protein 1, a melanocytespecific gene, correlated with SWI/SNF-dependent changes in chromatin accessibility at the endogenous locus. Both BRG1 and Mitf could be localized to the tyrosinase-related protein 1 and tyrosinase promoters by chromatin immunoprecipitation, whereas immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that Mitf and BRG1 co-localized in the nucleus and physically interacted. Together these results suggest that Mitf can recruit SWI/SNF enzymes to melanocyte-specific promoters for the activation of gene expression via induced changes in chromatin structure at endogenous loci.Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells that are developmentally derived from the neural crest and that comprise 1-2% of the epidermis (1). They are also present on the epithelial surfaces of mucous membranes, hair follicles, the cochlea of the inner ear, and both the uvea and conjunctiva of the eye (2, 3). On the skin, they play a photoprotective role by synthesizing and distributing melanin (4). Excessive exposure to UV radiation has been linked to the transformation of cutaneous melanocytes to melanoma, a cancer that has steadily increased in frequency and is difficult to treat (5, 6).Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf ) 2 is the "master regulator" of melanocyte differentiation and was elegantly shown to convert fibroblasts into dendritic cells that express melanocyte-specific genes (7). It is important for the commitment, proliferation, and survival of melanocytes during neural crest cell migration, and null mutations of the mouse Mitf gene result in complete absence of melanocytes and lack of pigmentation in the skin, eyes, and inner ear (8, 9). Two human diseases resulting from mutations in the MITF gene are Waardenburg type 2 syndrome and Tietz syndrome, both of which are characterized by pigmentary disturbances and sensineural deafness (8).Mitf is a basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper transcription factor that binds DNA either as a homodimer or as a heterodimer with TFE3, TFEB, or TFEC to conserved E boxes (CAC(G/A)TG) in the promoters of its target genes, which incl...

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is synthesized as a type I transmembrane protein (proHB-EGF) and expressed on the cell surface. The ectodomain shedding of proHB-EGF at the extracellular region on the plasma membrane yields a soluble EGF receptor ligand and a transmembrane-cytoplasmic fragment (HB-EGF-CTF). The cytoplasmic domain of proHB-EGF (HB-EGF-cyto) interacts with transcriptional repressors to reverse their repressive activities. However, how HB-EGF-cyto accesses transcriptional repressors is yet unknown. The present study demonstrates that, after exposure to shedding stimuli, both HB-EGF-CTF and unshed proHB-EGF translocate to the nuclear envelope. Immunoelectron microscopy and digitonin-permeabilized cells showed that HB-EGF-cyto signals are at the inner nuclear membrane. A short sequence element within the HB-EGF-cyto allows a transmembrane protein to localize to the nuclear envelope. The dominant-active form of Rab5 and Rab11 suppressed nuclear envelope targeting. Collectively, these data demonstrate that membrane-anchored HB-EGF is targeted to the inner nuclear membrane via a retrograde membrane trafficking pathway.

Many studies have examined transcriptional regulation during the initiation of skeletal muscle differentiation; however, there is less information regarding transcriptional control during adult myogenesis and during the maintenance of the differentiated state. MyoD and the mammalian SWI/SNF chromatinremodeling enzymes containing the Brg1 ATPase are necessary to induce myogenesis in cell culture models and in developing embryonic tissue, whereas myogenin and Brg1 are critical for the expression of the late genes that induce terminal muscle differentiation. Here, we demonstrate that myogenin also binds to its own promoter during the late stages of embryonic muscle development. As is the case during embryonic myogenesis, MyoD and Brg1 co-localize to the myogenin promoter in primary adult muscle satellite cells. However, in mature myofibers, myogenin and Brg1 are preferentially co-localized to the myogenin promoter. Thus, the myogenin promoter is occupied by different myogenic factors at different times of myogenesis. The relevance of myogenin in the continued expression from its own promoter is demonstrated in culture, where we show that myogenin, in the absence of MyoD, is capable of maintaining its own expression by recruiting the Brg1 ATPase to modify promoter chromatin structure and facilitate myogenin expression. Finally, we utilized in vivo electroporation to demonstrate that Brg1 is required for the continued production of the myogenin protein in newborn skeletal muscle tissue. These findings strongly suggest that the skeletal muscle phenotype is maintained by myogenin and the continuous activity of Brg1-based SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling enzymes.

Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (EGF)- like growth factor (HB-EGF) is synthesized in the ER, transported along the exocytic pathway, and expressed on the plasma membrane as a type I transmembrane protein. Upon extracellular stimulation, HB-EGF, either proHB-EGF or the shed form HB-EGF-CTF, undergoes endocytosis and is then transported retrogradely to the ER. In this study, we showed the essential contribution of the short cytoplasmic tail of HB-EGF (HB-EGF-cyto) to the bidirectional intracellular trafficking between the ER and plasma membrane and revealed several critical amino acids residues that are responsible for internalization from the plasma membrane and ER targeting. We suggest that these anterograde and retrograde sorting signals within HB-EGF-cyto are strictly regulated by protein modification and conformation.