WSTF: Proteins and Enzymes

The Williams Syndrome Transcription Factor (WSTF), the product of the WBSCR9 gene, is invariably deleted in the haploinsufficiency Williams-Beuren Syndrome. Along with the nucleosome-dependent ATPase ISWI, WSTF forms a novel chromatin remodeling complex, WICH (WSTF-ISWI chromatin remodeling complex). WSTF binds stably to mitotic chromosomes. As dysfunction of other chromatin remodeling factors often has severe effects on development, haploinsufficiency of WSTF may explain some of the phenotypes associated with this disease (1). Evidence has shown that the WSTF is targeted to replication foci through direct interaction with the DNA clamp PCNA, an important coordinator of DNA and chromatin replication. WSTF, in turn, recruits ISWI-type nucleosome-remodelling factor SNF2H to replication sites. It has been proposed that the WSTF-ISWI complex has a role in the maintenance of chromatin structures during DNA replication (2).