Pitrilysin metallopeptidase 1 also known as presequence protease, mitochondrial (PreP) and metalloprotease 1 (MTP-1) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PITRM1 gene. It is also sometimes called metalloprotease 1 (MP1).PreP facilitates proteostasis by utilizing an ~13300-A(3) catalytic chamber to degrade toxic peptides, including mitochondrial presequences and β-amyloid. Deficiency of PreP is found associated with Alzheimer's disease. Reduced levels of PreP via RNAi mediated knockdown have been shown to lead to defective maturation of the protein Frataxin.
