{"symbol":"HDAC8","synonyms":["CDLS5","MRXS6","HDACL1","CDA07","HD8"],"name":"histone deacetylase 8","description":"Histones play a critical role in transcriptional regulation, cell cycle progression, and developmental events. Histone acetylation/deacetylation alters chromosome structure and affects transcription factor access to DNA. The protein encoded by this gene belongs to class I of the histone deacetylase family. It catalyzes the deacetylation of lysine residues in the histone N-terminal tails and represses transcription in large multiprotein complexes with transcriptional co-repressors. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Oct 2009]","ncbiEntrezGeneId":55869,"ncbiEntrezGeneUrl":"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/55869","proteins":[{"symbol":"HDAC8_HUMAN","href":"/api/1.0/protein/HDAC8_HUMAN"}],"hgncRootFamilies":[{"name":"X-linked mental retardation","href":"/api/1.0/gene_family/X-linked+mental+retardation"}]}