TFIID is a general transcription factor that initiates preinitiation complex assembly through direct interaction with the TATA promoter element. Functioning as a multisubunit complex consisting of a small TATA-binding polypeptide and other TBP-associated factors (TAFs), TFIID mediates promoter responses to various transcriptional activators and repressors. TAF II p20, also known as TAF12, TAF15, TAF2J or TAFII20, is a 161 amino acid subunit of TFIID that localizes to the nucleus and contains one histone-fold domain. Expressed ubiquitously, TAF II p20 interacts with other members of the TFIID complex and, via this interaction, plays a role in mediating transcriptional activation and repression. Two isoforms of TAF II p20 exist due to alternative splicing events.
