BHC80 is a component of a BRAF35/histone deacetylase (HDAC) complex (BHC) that mediates repression of neuron-specific genes through the cis-regulatory element known as repressor element-1 (RE1) or neural restrictive silencer (NRS).The deduced 635-amino acid protein contains a PHD-type zinc finger. RT-PCR ELISA detected intermediate expression in all tissues and specific brain regions examined. The 634-amino acid BHC80 protein contains an N-terminal leucine zipper, a PHD zinc-finger domain most similar to that of the MI2 protein, and a C-terminal leucine zipper. RT-PCR detected tissue-specific expression, with the highest level in brain. In contrast to BRAF35, overexpression of transfected BHC80 in human embryonic kidney cells completely abrogated RE1-dependent transcriptional repression.