EIF4A3 (Eukaryotic initiation factor 4A-III) belongs to the DEAD box helicase family and eIF4A subfamily. DEAD box proteins, characterized by the conserved motif Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp (DEAD), are putative RNA helicases. They are implicated in a number of cellular processes involving alteration of RNA secondary structure, such as translation initiation, nuclear and mitochondrial splicing, and ribosome and spliceosome assembly.