Placental ribonuclease inhibitor (PRI) is a member of a family of proteinaceous cytoplasmic RNase inhibitors that occur in many tissues and bind to both intracellular and extracellular RNases (summarized by Lee et al., 1988 [PubMed 3219362]). In addition to control of intracellular RNases, the inhib
itor may have a role in the regulation of angiogenin (MIM 105850). Ribonuclease inhibitor, of 50,000 Da, binds to ribonucleases and holds them in a latent form. Since neutral and alkaline ribonucleases probably play a critical role in the turnover of RNA in eukaryotic cells, RNH may be essential for control of mRNA turnover; the interaction of eukaryotic cells with ribonuclease may be reversible in vivo.[supplied by OMIM, Jul 2010]
This gene encodes an endonuclease that specifically degrades the RNA of RNA-DNA hybrids and plays a key role in DNA replication and repair. Alternate in-frame start codon initiation results in the production of alternate isoforms that are directed to the mitochondria or to the nucleus. The productio
n of the mitochondrial isoform is modulated by an upstream open reading frame (uORF). Mutations in this gene have been found in individuals with progressive external ophthalmoplegia with mitochondrial DNA deletions, autosomal recessive 2. Alternative splicing results in additional coding and non-coding transcript variants. Pseudogenes of this gene have been defined on chromosomes 2 and 17. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2017]