The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the oligameric minichromosome maintenance protein complex. During DNA replication, the complex loads onto chromatin in early G1 and is converted into an active replicative helicase during S phase. It functions to limit DNA synthesis to once per cell cycle. During embryogenesis, the encoded protein is negatively regulated through expression of paired box protein Pax 3. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Oct 2014]