Enables hormone activity. Involved in several processes, including cellular response to mechanical stimulus; negative regulation of cell population proliferation; and positive regulation of cGMP-mediated signaling. Located in several cellular components, including extracellular space; perinuclear region of cytoplasm; and transport vesicle. Used to study hypertension; hypertensive heart disease; myocardial infarction; polycystic kidney disease; and proteinuria. Biomarker of several diseases, including artery disease (multiple); heart disease (multiple); hyperhomocysteinemia; obesity; and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in atherosclerosis; hypertension; myocardial infarction; obesity; and systolic heart failure. Orthologous to human NPPB (natriuretic peptide B). [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Apr 2022]