Two major families of SWI/SNF complexes are BAF (Brg1-Associated Factors) and PBAF (Polybromo-associated BAF), which incorporate different sets of unique accessory subunits to produce molecularly distinct complexes (Fig. 1A). We previously found that BAF and PBAF affect different components of the acute response to ethanol in the genetic model Caenorhabditis elegans (Mathies et al., 2015): BAF is required for normal initial sensitivity to ethanol, while PBAF is required for the development of acute functional tolerance to ethanol (AFT). We found that PBAF functions in differentiated neurons for the development of AFT (Mathies et al., 2015). Importantly, variation in two human SWI/SNF complex genes, SMARCA2 and BRD7, was associated with AD in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study for Alcohol Dependence (IASPSAD) (Mathies et al., 2015).
