Histone acetylation and deacetylation alternately exposes and occludes DNA to transcription factors. At least 4 classes of HDAC were identified. HDAC5 is a class II HDAC. HDAC5 responsible for the deacetylation of lysine residues on the N-terminal part of the core histones (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4). Histone deacetylation gives a tag for epigenetic repression and plays an important role in transcriptional regulation, cell cycle progression and developmental events. Histone deacetylases act via the formation of large multiprotein complexes. HDAC5 is involved in muscle maturation by repressing transcription of myocyte enhancer MEF2C. During muscle differentiation, HDAC5 shuttles into the cytoplasm, allowing the expression of myocyte enhancer factors. This antibody is a mouse monoclonal antibody raised against a peptide mapping within human HDAC5.