ISWI Family Protein

**Semantic type:** Amino Acid, Peptide, or Protein|Biologically Active Substance

**Definition:** The Drosophila gene Imitation SWI (Iswi) encodes a DNA helicase involved in chromatin modeling. It contains a SNF2 related domain, a MYB DNA binding domain, a DEAD/DEAH box helicase, and a helicase C-terminal domain. Iswi is a component of a 215 kD protein NURF, a nucleosome remodeling complex that facilitates the perturbation of chromatin structure in an ATP-dependent manner. Iswi mediates the hydrolysis of ATP during the remodeling of chromatin. It is also a component of the ATP-utilizing chromatin assembly and remodeling factor ACF and of the chromatin accessibility complex CHRAC. This subunit may serve as the energy-transducing component of chromatin-remodeling machines. Iswi belongs to the SNF2/RAD54 helicase family, SNF2L subfamily. Similar sequences have been identified in Caenorhabditis elegans, Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Plasmodium falciparum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (from FlyBase 0011604 and NCI)