Elongator Complex Protein 1 (ELP1)

IKAP was initially described as a scaffold protein of the IKK complex involved in NF-kappa-B activation, but a role for IKAP in this pathway was later disproved. IKAP is a component of Elongator, a highly conserved transcription elongation factor complex that has histone acetyltransferase activity, primarily directed toward histone H3. A substantial fraction of Elongator is cytoplasmic, however, suggesting that the complex performs additional functions. The IKAP open reading frame of 3,996 nucleotides is flanked by 303 bp and 501 bp of 5-prime and 3-prime untranslated sequence, respectively. A 4.8-kb mRNA was detected in most human tissues. IKAP shows 22% overall identity with the yeast protein IKI3, which may be involved in the yeast response to toxins. There appeared to be 5 WD-like repeats.