Enables protease binding activity. Involved in several processes, including cartilage development; response to peptide hormone; and wound healing. Located in basement membrane. Used to study degenerative disc disease. Biomarker of cholestasis; gastric ulcer; heart disease (multiple); lung disease (multiple); and vascular disease (multiple). Orthologous to human TIMP1 (TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor 1). [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Apr 2022]