Ntan1 - N-terminal Asn amidase

The protein encoded by this gene functions in a step-wise protein degradation process through the N-end rule pathway. This protein acts as a tertiary destabilizing enzyme that deamidates N-terminal L-Asparagine residues on proteins to produce N-terminal L-Aspartate. L-Aspartate substrates are subsequently conjugated to L-Arginine, which is recognized by specific E3 ubiquitin ligases and targeted to the proteasome. Mice with a knock-out of this gene are viable, fertile, and outwardly normal, but show impairments in spontaneous activity and spatial memory, relative to their wild-type counterparts. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2016]