DEAD Box Polypeptide 59 (DDX59)

DDX59 belongs to the DEAD box helicase family. DDX59 subfamily. The Q motif is unique to and characteristic of the DEAD box family of RNA helicases and controls ATP binding and hydrolysis. DEAD box proteins are involved in an assortment of metabolic processes that involve RNA. DEAD box proteins were first brought to attention in the late 1980s in a study that looked at a group of NTPases that were similar in sequence to the eIF4A RNA helicase sequence. The results of this study showed that these proteins (p68,SrmB, MSS116, vasa, PL10, mammalian eIF4A, yeast eIF4A) involved in RNA metabolism had several common elements. There were nine common sequences found to be conserved amongst the studied species, which is an important criterion of the DEAD box family.