InterPro domain: IPR029148

Spt16 is a component of the FACT (facilitator of chromatin transcription) complex, a general chromatin factor that acts to reorganise nucleosomes [ 1 , 2 ]. In budding yeasts, the N-terminal domain (NTD) of Spt16 includes a smaller N-terminal lobe (residues 1-175) and a larger C-terminal lobe (residues 176-447). This entry represents the N-terminal lobe domain. Its structure is similar to the RuvC/RNase H family. It may act as a protein-protein interaction domain presumably with partners outside of the FACT complex [ 3 ]. The C-terminal lobe of NTD is structurally similar to aminopeptidases, and the most highly conserved surface residues line a cleft equivalent to the aminopeptidase substrate-binding site in peptidase family M24 ( IPR000994 ).

1. Drosophila FACT contributes to Hox gene expression through physical and functional interactions with GAGA factor. Genes Dev. 17, 1605-16
2. Spt16 and Pob3 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae form an essential, abundant heterodimer that is nuclear, chromatin-associated, and copurifies with DNA polymerase alpha. Biochemistry 38, 8961-71
3. Structural and functional analysis of the Spt16p N-terminal domain reveals overlapping roles of yFACT subunits. J. Biol. Chem. 283, 5058-68