该基因的产物在核苷酸切除修复途径中起作用，是修复紫外光诱导或顺铂等亲电化合物形成的DNA损伤所必需的。编码蛋白与xpf内切酶（也称为ercc4）形成异二聚体，异二聚内切酶催化DNA损伤切除过程中的5'切口。异二聚内切酶也参与重组DNA修复和链间交联修复。该基因突变导致脑-眼骨骼综合征，改变该基因表达的多态性可能在致癌作用中发挥作用。已发现编码该基因不同亚型的多种转录变体。该基因的最后一个外显子与CD3e分子重叠，即位于相反链上的与epsilon相关的蛋白质基因。
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.