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.

1: Evolution of the SNF2 family of proteins: subfamilies with distinct sequences and functions. Eisen JA, Sweder KS, Hanawalt PC; Nucleic Acids Res. 1995;23:2715-2723. PMID:7651832

2: The SNF2 domain protein family in higher vertebrates displays dynamic expression patterns in Xenopus laevis embryos. Linder B, Cabot RA, Schwickert T, Rupp RA; Gene. 2004;326:59-66. PMID:14729263

3: Maintenance of silent chromatin through replication requires SWI/SNF-like chromatin remodeler SMARCAD1. Rowbotham SP, Barki L, Neves-Costa A, Santos F, Dean W, Hawkes N, Choudhary P, Will WR, Webster J, Oxley D, Green CM, Varga-Weisz P, Mermoud JE; Mol Cell. 2011;42:285-296. PMID:21549307