Interacts with centromeric heterochromatin in chromosomes and binds to a specific 17 bp subset of alphoid satellite DNA, called the CENP-B box (PubMed:11726497). May organize arrays of centromere satellite DNA into a higher-order structure which then directs centromere formation and kinetochore assembly in mammalian chromosomes (Probable). . This is the function of ENSG00000125817 (CENPB, centromere protein B).