InterPro domain: IPR000313

The PWWP domain is an around 70 amino acids domain that was named after its central core 'Pro-Trp-Trp-Pro'. The PWWP domain is found in one or, less frequently, in two copies in nuclear, often DNA-binding proteins that function as transcription factors regulating developmental processes. Due to its position, the composition of amino acids close to the PWWP motif and the pattern of other domains present, it has been proposed that the PWWP domain is involved in protein-protein interactions [ 1 , 2 ]. The structure of the PWWP domain comprises a five-stranded beta-barrel followed by a five-helix bundle [ 3 ].

Conservation of the PWWP domain is concentrated on one major and two minor blocks with length differences occurring in between [ 4 ].

1. The PWWP domain: a potential protein-protein interaction domain in nuclear proteins influencing differentiation? FEBS Lett. 473, 1-5
2. Multivalent binding of PWWP2A to H2A.Z regulates mitosis and neural crest differentiation. EMBO J. 36, 2263-2279
3. The PWWP domain of mammalian DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3b defines a new family of DNA-binding folds. Nat. Struct. Biol. 9, 217-24