This gene encodes the cytosolic form of a metalloaminopeptidase that catalyzes the cleavage of the N-terminal amino acid adjacent to a proline residue. The gene product may play a role in degradation and maturation of tachykinins, neuropeptides, and peptide hormones. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants.[provided by RefSeq, Nov 2009].
Gevaert, Goethals, Martens, Van Damme, Staes, Thomas, Vandekerckhove: "Exploring proteomes and analyzing protein processing by mass spectrometric identification of sorted N-terminal peptides." in: Nature biotechnology, Vol. 21, Issue 5, pp. 566-9, (2003) (PubMed).