Structure and mechanism of the Swi2/Snf2 remodeller Mot1 in complex with its substrate TBP

The Swi2/Snf2 family of proteins uses the energy of ATP hydrolysis to disrupt protein-DNA interactions, a process known as remodelling. In this study, Karl-Peter Hopfner and colleagues have solved the structure of the Mot1 ATPase in complex with the transcription factor TBP, which Mot1 displaces from promoters. The structure reveals how the ATPase specifically interacts with TBP and DNA, acting both to displace TBP and to prevent it from rebinding DNA.