40S ribosomal protein S3, also known as RPS3, belongs to the S3P family of ribosomal proteins. RPS3 mediates the formation of the mRNA binding site 3' of the codon in the decoding site. In addition, RPS3 is involved in DNA damage recognition as shown by its affinity for abasic sites and 7, 8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine residues and its interaction with human base excision repair proteins OGG1 and Ref-1.