This gene encodes a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial protein that is a member of the large family of solute carrier family 25 (SLC25) mitochondrial transporters. The members of this superfamily are involved in numerous metabolic pathways and cell functions. This gene product was previously reported to be a mitochondrial carnitine-acylcarnitine-like (CACL) translocase (PMID:128829710) or an ornithine transporter (designated ORNT3, PMID:19287344), however, a recent study characterized the main role of this protein as a mitochondrial transporter of basic amino acids, with a preference for arginine and lysine (PMID:24652292). Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Apr 2014].