Required for pre-mRNA splicing as component of the spliceosome (PubMed:11991638). Plays a redundant role with MAGOHB as core component of the exon junction complex (EJC) and in the nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway (PubMed:23917022). The EJC is a dynamic structure consisting of core proteins and several peripheral nuclear and cytoplasmic associated factors that join the complex only transiently either during EJC assembly or during subsequent mRNA metabolism. The EJC marks the position of the exon-exon junction in the mature mRNA for the gene expression machinery and the core components remain bound to spliced mRNAs throughout all stages of mRNA metabolism thereby influencing downstream processes including nuclear mRNA export, subcellular mRNA localization, translation efficiency and nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The MAGOH-RBM8A heterodimer inhibits the ATPase activity of EIF4A3, thereby trapping the ATP-bound EJC core onto spliced mRNA in a stable conformation. The MAGOH-RBM8A heterodimer interacts with the EJC key regulator PYM1 leading to EJC disassembly in the cytoplasm and translation enhancement of EJC-bearing spliced mRNAs by recruiting them to the ribosomal 48S preinitiation complex. Involved in the splicing modulation of BCL2L1/Bcl-X (and probably other apoptotic genes); specifically inhibits formation of proapoptotic isoforms such as Bcl-X(S); the function is different from the established EJC assembly.
