Prefoldin subunit 1 is a member of the prefoldin beta subunit family. The encoded protein is one of six subunits of prefoldin, a molecular chaperone complex that binds and stabilizes newly synthesized polypeptides, thereby allowing them to fold correctly. The complex, consisting of two alpha and four beta subunits, forms a double beta barrel assembly with six protruding coiled-coils. By analysis of the protein by reverse-phase HPLC, they identified 6 prefoldin polypeptides. By sequence analysis, they identified the corresponding mammalian cDNA sequences, of which 4 were human. These 4 included PFDN1, which encodes a 122-amino acid protein. PFDN3 is identical to VBP1, whereas PFDN4  and PFDN5 encode a possible transcription factor and a c-myc binding protein, respectively.