Endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) is the pathway by which misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum are targeted to the proteasome for degradation. Multiple specialized proteins interact with one another during ERAD to complete this process. The protein encoded by this gene is an inhibitor of ERAD, functioning to disrupt the interaction of these protein components. This downregulation of ERAD may be needed to protect the cell from overactive protein degradation. Several transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2016].