This gene encodes a cell surface glycoprotein and member of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase) family of endopeptidases. The encoded protein may play a role in the ectodomain shedding of neuregulin proteins. Homozygous knockout mice for this gene exhibit heart development defects and perinatal lethality. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants, at least one of which encodes a preproprotein that undergoes proteolytic processing to generate a mature protein product. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2015]