著絲粒是分化的染色體結構域，它規定了染色體的有絲分裂行為。該基因編碼著絲粒蛋白，該蛋白包含一個組蛋白h3相關的組蛋白折疊結構域，該結構域是靶向著絲粒所必需的。著絲粒蛋白a被認為是修飾核小體或核小體樣結構的一個組成部分，其中它取代了核小體顆粒（h3-h4）2四聚體核心中1個或兩個常規組蛋白h3的拷貝。該蛋白是一種與復制無關的組蛋白，是組蛋白h3家族的成員。選擇性剪接導致編碼不同亞型的多個轉錄變體。[由RefSeq提供，2015年11月]
Centromeres are the differentiated chromosomal domains that specify the mitotic behavior of chromosomes. This gene encodes a centromere protein which contains a histone H3 related histone fold domain that is required for targeting to the centromere. Centromere protein A is proposed to be a component of a modified nucleosome or nucleosome-like structure in which it replaces 1 or both copies of conventional histone H3 in the (H3-H4)2 tetrameric core of the nucleosome particle. The protein is a replication-independent histone that is a member of the histone H3 family. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2015]