The transport of molecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm in eukaryotic cells is mediated by the nuclear pore complex (NPC), which consists of 60-100 proteins. Small molecules (up to 70 kD) can pass through the nuclear pore by nonselective diffusion while larger molecules are transported by an active process. The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the importin alpha family, and is involved in nuclear protein import. This protein interacts with the recombination activating gene 1 (RAG1) protein and is a putative substrate of the RAG1 ubiquitin ligase. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2012]