Generation of a Cellular Reporter for Functional BRD4 Inhibition

Abstract

The ubiquitously expressed bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is an epigenetic reader, which recruits transcriptional regulatory complexes to acetylated chromatin. Because of its role in enhancing proliferation, BRD4 has become a therapeutic target in oncology, as the inhibition of this protein leads to the reduction of the growth of many tumours. Even though BRD4 is more and more studied, its mechanism of action has not been fully described yet. Therefore, we aimed at generating a cellular reporter system to monitor BRD4 inhibition. Such reporter can be potentially used in high throughput chemical and genetic screenings, in order to uncover new possible BRD4 functional pathways. The deeper understanding of the mechanism of action of BRD4 activity will certainly help in developing new therapy strategies for those cancers so called BRD4-dependent.

Keywords: BRD4; Cellular chromatin reporters; Chromatin reorganization; Epigenetic; Heterochromatinization.