Small Nuclear RNA Activating Complex Polypeptide 1 (SNAPC1)

The TATA box binding protein (TBP) is complexed with different sets of TBP-associated factors (TAFs) that are required for transcription. In general, each of these TBP-TAF complexes is dedicated to transcription by a single RNA polymerase. Henry et al. (1995) characterized a TBP-TAF complex called SNAPc (snRNA-activating protein complex) which is required for transcription of both RNA polymerase II and III small-nuclear RNA genes. SNAPc binds to the proximal sequence element (PSE), a non-TATA-box basal promoter element common to these 2 types of genes. Degenerate PCR primers were then used to identify an RNA transcript, which in turn was used to screen a human teratocarcinoma NTera2D1 cDNA library. A cDNA encoding a 368-amino acid predicted protein was identified.