REST corepressor 1 (RCOR1)

Essential part of the BHC complicated, a corepressor complex that represses transcription of neuron-specific genes in non-neuronal cells. The BHC complex is recruited at RE1/NRSE sites by REST and functions by deacetylating and demethylating specific sites on histones, thereby acting as a chromatin modifier.

In the BHC complicated, it serves as a molecular beacon for the recruitment of molecular machinery, such as MeCP2 and SUV39H1, that imposes silencing across a chromosomal interval. Plays a central role in demethylation of Lys-4 of histone H3 by promoting demethylase activity of KDM1A on core histones and nucleosomal substrates.