1X47, 2YT4, 3LE4, 5B165448794223ENSG00000128191ENSMUSG00000022718Q8WYQ5Q9EQM6NM_001190326NM_022720NM_033324NP_001177255NP_073557NP_201581The microprocessor complex subunit DGCR8 (DiGeorge syndrome critical region 8) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DGCR8 gene.

[4] In other animals, particularly the common model organisms Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, the protein is known as Pasha (partner of Drosha).

The subunit DGCR8 is localized to the cell nucleus and is required for microRNA (miRNA) processing.

It binds to the other subunit Drosha, an RNase III enzyme, to form the microprocessor complex that cleaves a primary transcript known as pri-miRNA to a characteristic stem-loop structure known as a pre-miRNA, which is then further processed to miRNA fragments by the enzyme Dicer.

Removal of UV-induced DNA photoproducts, during transcription coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER), depends on JNK phosphorylation of DGCR8 on serine 153.