Acts both as a chaperone in the cytosol and as a chromatin regulator in the nucleus. When cytosolic, acts as a molecular chaperone: component of the ribosome-associated complex (RAC), a complex involved in folding or maintaining nascent polypeptides in a folding-competent state. In the RAC complex, stimulates the ATPase activity of the ribosome-associated pool of Hsp70-type chaperones HSPA14 that bind to the nascent polypeptide chain. When nuclear, mediates the switching from polycomb-repressed genes to an active state: specifically recruited at histone H2A ubiquitinated at 'Lys-119' (H2AK119ub), and promotes the displacement of the polycomb PRC1 complex from chromatin, thereby facilitating transcription activation.
