This gene encodes a subtilisin-like proprotein convertase that mediates posttranslational endoproteolytic processing of various proprotein substrates traversing the secretory pathway. The encoded protein is an inactive zymogen that undergoes autoproteolytic processing in the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi network to generate an active enzyme. Mice lacking the encoded protein die at an early embryonic stage. Conditional inactivation this gene in the epiblast but not in the extraembryonic tissue bypasses embryonic lethality but results in death at birth. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2015]