MTA1

Metastasis-associated protein MTA1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MTA1 gene. MTA1 is the founding member of the MTA family of genes. MTA1 is primarily localized in the nucleus but also found to be distributed in the extra-nuclear compartments. MTA1 is a component of several chromatin remodeling complexes including the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylation complex (NuRD). MTA1 regulates gene expression by functioning as a coregulator to integrate DNA-interacting factors to gene activity.[7] MTA1 participates in physiological functions in the normal and cancer cells. MTA1 is one of the most upregulated proteins in human cancer and associates with cancer progression, aggressive phenotypes, and poor prognosis of cancer patients.[6]

Discovery

MTA1 was first cloned by Toh, Pencil and Nicholson in 1994 as a differentially expressed gene in a highly metastatic rat breast cancer cell line.[1-2] The role in MTA1 in chromatin remodeling was deduced due to the presence of MTA1 polypeptides in the NuRD complex.[5] The first direct target of the MTA1-NuRD complex was ERα.[11]