Involved in nuclear export of spliced and unspliced mRNA. Assembling component of the TREX complex which is thought to couple mRNA transcription, processing and nuclear export, and specifically associates with spliced mRNA and not with unspliced pre-mRNA. TREX is recruited to spliced mRNAs by a transcription-independent mechanism, binds to mRNA upstream of the exon-junction complex (EJC) and is recruited in a splicing- and cap-dependent manner to a region near the 5' end of the mRNA where it functions in mRNA export to the cytoplasm via the TAP/NFX1 pathway.
[1] "The BAT1 gene in the MHC encodes an evolutionarily conserved putative nuclear RNA helicase of the DEAD family." Peelman L., Chardon P., Nunes M., Renard C., Geffrotin C., Vaiman M., van Zeveren A., Coppieters W., van de Weghe A., Bouquet Y., Choy W.
