In molecular biology, the HAND domain is a protein domain which adopts a secondary structure consisting of four alpha helices, three of which (H2, H3, H4) form an L-like configuration. Helix H2 runs antiparallel to helices H3 and H4, packing closely against helix H4, whilst helix H1 reposes in the concave surface formed by these three helices and runs perpendicular to them. This domain confers DNA and nucleosome binding properties to the proteins in which it occurs.[1] It is named the HAND domain because its 4-helical structure resembles an open hand.

HAND
nucleosome recognition module of iswi atpase
Identifiers
SymbolHAND
PfamPF09110
InterProIPR015194
SCOP21ofc / SCOPe / SUPFAM
Available protein structures:
Pfam  structures / ECOD  
PDBRCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj
PDBsumstructure summary

HAND domain-containing proteins include proteins involved in nucleosome remodelling, an energy-dependent process that alters histone-DNA interactions within nucleosomes, thereby rendering nucleosomal DNA accessible to regulatory factors. The ATPases involved in nucleosome remodelling belong to the SWI2/SNF2 subfamily of DEAD/H-helicases, which contain a conserved ATPase domain characterised by seven motifs. Proteins within this family differ with regard to domain organisation, their associated proteins and the remodelling complex in which they reside. The ATPase ISWI is a member of this family. ISWI can be divided into two regions: an N-terminal region that contains the SWI2/SNF2 ATPase domain, and a C-terminal region that is responsible for substrate recognition. The C-terminal region contains 12 alpha-helices and can be divided into three domains and a spacer region: a HAND domain, a SANT domain (c-Myb DNA-binding like), a spacer helix, and a SLIDE domain (SANT-like but with several insertions).

References

edit
  1. ^ Grune T, Brzeski J, Eberharter A, Clapier CR, Corona DF, Becker PB, Muller CW (August 2003). "Crystal structure and functional analysis of a nucleosome recognition module of the remodeling factor ISWI". Mol. Cell. 12 (2): 449–60. doi:10.1016/S1097-2765(03)00273-9. PMID 14536084.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Pfam and InterPro: IPR015194