This gene encodes a catalytic subunit of the tRNA splicing endonuclease, which catalyzes the removal of introns from precursor tRNAs. The endonuclease complex is also associated with a pre-mRNA 3-prime end processing factor. A mutation in this gene results in the neurological disorder pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 2. Multiple alternatively spliced variants, encoding the same protein, have been identified.[provided by RefSeq, Oct 2009].