InterPro domain: IPR000330

This domain is found in proteins involved in a variety of processes including transcription regulation (e.g., SNF2, STH1, brahma, MOT1), DNA repair (e.g., ERCC6, RAD16, RAD5), DNA recombination (e.g., RAD54), and chromatin unwinding (e.g., ISWI) as well as a variety of other proteins with little functional information (e.g., lodestar, ETL1) [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. SNF2 functions as the ATPase component of the SNF2/SWI multisubunit complex, which utilises energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to disrupt histone-DNA interactions, resulting in the increased accessibility of DNA to transcription factors [ 4 ].

Proteins that contain this domain appear to be distantly related to the DEAX box helicases.

1. Evolution of the SNF2 family of proteins: subfamilies with distinct sequences and functions. Nucleic Acids Res. 23, 2715-23
2. The SNF2 domain protein family in higher vertebrates displays dynamic expression patterns in Xenopus laevis embryos. Gene 326, 59-66
3. Maintenance of silent chromatin through replication requires SWI/SNF-like chromatin remodeler SMARCAD1. Mol Cell 42, 285-96
4. Snf2 family ATPases and DExx box helicases: differences and unifying concepts from high-resolution crystal structures. Nucleic Acids Res 34, 4160-7