Regulatory subunit of the poly(A)-nuclease (PAN) deadenylation complex, one of two cytoplasmic mRNA deadenylases involved in general and miRNA-mediated mRNA turnover. PAN specifically shortens poly(A) tails of RNA and the activity is stimulated by poly(A)-binding protein (PABP). PAN deadenylation is followed by rapid degradation of the shortened mRNA tails by the CCR4-NOT complex. Deadenylated mRNAs are then degraded by two alternative mechanisms, namely exosome-mediated 3′-5′ exonucleolytic degradation, or deadenylation-dependent mRNA decapping and subsequent 5′-3′ exonucleolytic degradation by XRN1. PAN3 acts as a regulator for PAN activity, recruiting the catalytic subunit PAN2 to mRNA via its interaction with RNA and PABP, and to miRNA targets via its interaction with GW182 family proteins. ; [Isoform 1]: Decreases PAN2-mediated deadenylation, possibly by preventing progression into the second CCR4-NOT mediated stage of biphasic deadenylation. Has a significant effect on mRNA stability, generally stabilizing a subset of the transcriptome. Stabilizes mRNAs degraded by the AU-rich element (ARE)-mediated mRNA decay pathway but promotes degradation of mRNAs by the microRNA-mediated pathway (PubMed:28559491). Its activity influences mRNP remodeling, specifically reducing formation of a subset of P-bodies containing GW220, an isoform of TNRC6A (PubMed:28559491). ; [Isoform 3]: Enhances PAN2 deadenylase activity and has an extensive effect on mRNA stability, generally enhancing mRNA decay across the transcriptome by multiple pathways, including the AU-rich element (ARE)-mediated pathway, microRNA-mediated pathway and the nonsense-mediated pathway (NMD) (PubMed:28559491). Its activity is required for efficient P-body formation (PubMed:28559491). May be involved in regulating mRNAs of genes involved in cell cycle progression and cell proliferation (PubMed:28559491).
