This gene encodes a core subunit of the eukaryotic initiation factor 3 complex, which participates in the initiation of translation by aiding in the recruitment of protein and mRNA components to the 40S ribosome. There are pseudogenes for this gene on chromosomes 1, 3, and 9. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2013].