Mechanisms and consequences of nucleosome remodeling by mammalian SWI/SNF complexes.

Mammalian SWI/SNF (BAF) ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers mobilize nucleosomes to regulate chromatin accessibility and transcriptional programs that shape cell identity and environmental responses.

• Why it matters: Understanding how BAF complexes are organized, recruited, and function is key to explaining how cells control gene expression in both normal physiology and disease.
• What they did: This Review synthesizes recent findings on BAF structural modular assembly, recruitment to chromatin by transcription factors, noncoding RNAs, and histone modifications, and roles in transcriptional processes including RNA polymerase II pausing, R-loop homeostasis, enhancer activation, and phase separation.
• The result: The work highlights unifying principles that operate across physiological and pathological contexts, linking BAF remodeling mechanisms to downstream transcriptional outcomes.

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