Co-repressor complexes and remodelling chromatin for repression

Recent progress identifies targeted chromatin remodelling by co-repressor complexes as being an integral component of transcriptional silencing. Here we discuss how chromatin structure and the basal transcriptional machinery are manipulated by the co-repressor complex containing the Mi-2 nucleosomal ATPase, the histone-binding protein RbAp48 and histone deacetylase and by the co-repressor complex containing SIN3, RbAp48 and histone deacetylase. Remarkably, both of these complexes also contain methyl-CpG-binding proteins. This observation provides a molecular mechanism to integrate DNA methylation fully into gene control in vertebrates.