Heterochromatin Protein 1, alpha (HP1a) (APC)

Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) is a family of heterochromatic adaptor molecules involved in both gene silencing and higher order chromatin structure. All three HP1 family members (alpha, beta and gamma) are primarily associated with centromeric heterochromatin; however, HP1b and gamma also localize to euchromatic sites in the genome. HP1 proteins are approximately 25kD in size and each contains a conserved amino-terminal chromodomain, followed by a variable hinge region and a conserved carboxy-terminal chromoshadow domain. The chromodomain facilitates binding to histone H3 tri-methylated on Lys9,...