Genome-wide coactivation screen identifies BAF60a as a regulator of lipid metabolism through PGC-1alpha. Mus musculus

Impaired mitochondrial function has been implicated in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, heart failure and neurodegeneration as well as during aging. Studies with the PGC-1 transcriptional coactivators have demonstrated that these factors are key components of the regulatory network that controls mitochondrial function in mammalian cells. Here we describe a genome-wide coactivation assay to globally identify the transcriptional partners for PGC-1α. These analyses revealed a molecular signature of the PGC-1α transcriptional network, and identified BAF60a (Smarcd1), a subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex, as a critical regulator of lipid homeostasis. Adenoviral-mediated expression of BAF60a stimulates fatty acid β-oxidation in cultured hepatocytes and reduces hepatic triglyceride levels in diet-induced obese mice. BAF60a physically interacts with PGC-1α and is recruited to PPARα target genes in the fasted liver. Liver-specific RNAi knockdown of BAF60a impairs fatty acid oxidation and results in severe hepatic steatosis following starvation. These results define a role for the SWI/SNF complexes in the regulation of hepatic lipid metabolism, and reveal a potential target for therapeutic intervention. Keywords: Adenoviral transduction. Overall design: Primary hepatocytes were isolated from C57/Bl6J mice (10 weeks old) and transduced with recombinant adenoviruses expressing GFP or BAF60a for 40 hrs. Total RNA was isolated for array analysis.