Background information
The AAA ATPase family of molecular chaperones are characterized by a highly conserved AAA motif. Composed of 200-250 residues, the AAA domain contains Walker homology sequences and imparts ATPase activity. Members of the AAA ATPase family act as DNA helicases as well as transcription factors and are thought to be involved in several cellular functions such as cell-cycle regulation, protein proteolysis, organelle biogenesis and vesicle-mediated protein transport. Mitochondrial membrane proteins ATAD3A and ATAD3B contribute to the stabilization of nucleoids which are large mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-protein complexes. ATAD3A/B may participate in the transformation pathway and the chemosensitivity of oligodendrogliomas. The genes encoding ATAD3A/B/C maps to human chromosome 1, which houses over 3,000 genes and is the largest human chromosome spanning about 260 million base pairs and making up 8% of the human genome.
