InterPro domain: IPR038718

This domain is found in proteins involved in a variety of processes including transcription regulation (e.g., SNF2, STH1, MOT1), DNA repair (e.g., 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 [ 1 , 2 ]. 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.

Proteins that contain this domain appear to be distantly related to theDEAX 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