This gene is a member of the NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) iron-sulfur protein family. The encoded protein is a subunit of the NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I), the first enzyme complex in the electron transport chain located in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants and pseudogenes have been identified on chromosomes 1, 4 and 17.