HIRA Interacting Protein 3 (HIRIP3)

The HIRA protein shares sequence similarity with Hir1p and Hir2p, the two corepressors of histone gene transcription characterized in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The structural features of the HIRA protein suggest that it may function as part of a multiprotein complex. Recently, several cDNAs encoding HIRA-interacting proteins, or HIRIPs, have been identified. In vitro, the HIRIP3 gene product binds HIRA, as well as H2B and H3 core histones, indicating that a complex containing HIRA-HIRIP3 could function in some aspects of chromatin and histone metabolism.

The predicted partial protein sequence of HIRIP3 contained 20% acidic and 21% basic amino acids, including several stretches of lysine and arginine residues.