該基因的產物在核苷酸切除修復途徑中起作用，是修復紫外光誘導或順鉑等親電化合物形成的DNA損傷所必需的。編碼蛋白與xpf內切酶（也稱為ercc4）形成異二聚體，異二聚內切酶催化DNA損傷切除過程中的5'切口。異二聚內切酶也參與重組DNA修復和鏈間交聯修復。該基因突變導致腦-眼骨骼綜合征，改變該基因表達的多態性可能在致癌作用中發揮作用。已發現編碼該基因不同亞型的多種轉錄變體。該基因的最后一個外顯子與CD3e分子重疊，即位于相反鏈上的與epsilon相關的蛋白質基因。
The product of this gene functions in the nucleotide excision repair pathway, and is required for the repair of DNA lesions such as those induced by UV light or formed by electrophilic compounds including cisplatin. The encoded protein forms a heterodimer with the XPF endonuclease (also known as ERCC4), and the heterodimeric endonuclease catalyzes the 5' incision in the process of excising the DNA lesion. The heterodimeric endonuclease is also involved in recombinational DNA repair and in the repair of inter-strand crosslinks. Mutations in this gene result in cerebrooculofacioskeletal syndrome, and polymorphisms that alter expression of this gene may play a role in carcinogenesis. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. The last exon of this gene overlaps with the CD3e molecule, epsilon associated protein gene on the opposite strand.