NSF required for intracellular membrane fusion and vesicle-mediated transport. Catalyzes the fusion of transport vesicles within the Golgi cisternae. Is also required for transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi stack. Seem to function as a fusion protein required for the delivery of cargo proteins to all compartments of the Golgi stack independent of vesicle origin. Functions as a SNAP receptor (SNARE) chaperone which binds, through soluble NSF attachment proteins (SNAPs), to SNARE complexes and utilizes the energy of ATP hydrolysis to disassemble them thus facilitating SNARE recycling. While this is a major function of NSF, it does seem to interact with other proteins, such as the AMPA receptor subunit, GluR2, and beta2-AR and is thought to affect their trafficking patterns.