This gene encodes a member of the PIWI subfamily of Argonaute proteins; evolutionarily conserved proteins containing both PAZ and Piwi motifs that play important roles in stem cell self-renewal; RNA silencing; and translational regulation in diverse organisms. The encoded protein may play a role as an intrinsic regulator of the self-renewal capacity of germline and hematopoietic stem cells. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.
