The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) family. PTPs are known to be signaling molecules that regulate a variety of cellular processes including cell growth, differentiation, mitotic cycle, and oncogenic transformation. This PTP possesses an extracellular region, a single transmembrane region, and two tandem catalytic domains, and thus represents a receptor-type PTP. The extracellular region contains a meprin-A5 antigen-PTP mu (MAM) domain, an Ig-like domain and four fibronectin type III-like repeats. This PTP was shown to mediate homophilic intercellular interaction, possibly through the interaction with beta- and gamma-catenin at adherens junctions. Expression of this gene was found to be stimulated by TGF-beta 1, which may be important for the inhibition of keratinocyte proliferation.