Acetylation of lysine residues within the aminoterminal domains of the core histones plays a critical role in chromatin assemhly as well as in regulation of gene expression. To study the biochemical function of histone acetylation, we have cloned a cDNA encoding the catalytic subunit of human histone acetyltransferase, Hat1. Analysis of the predicted amino acid sequence of human Hat1 revealed an open reading frame of 419 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 49.5 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.5. The amino acid sequence of human Hat1 is homologous to those of known and putative Hat1 proteins from various species throughout the entire open reading frame. The recombinant human Hat1 protein expressed in bacteria possesses histone H4 acetyltransferase activity in vitro. Both RbAp46 and RbAp48, which participate in various processes of histone metabolism, enhance the histone acetyltransferase activity of the recombinant human Hat1, indicating that they are both able to functionally interact with the human Hat1 in vitro.