This gene encodes a member of the ADAMTS (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs) protein family. Members of the family share several distinct protein modules, including a propeptide region, a metalloproteinase domain, a disintegrin-like domain, and a thrombospondin type 1 (TS) motif. Individual members of this family differ in the number of C-terminal TS motifs, and some have unique C-terminal domains. The encoded preproprotein is proteolytically processed to generate the mature procollagen N-proteinase. This proteinase excises the N-propeptide of the fibrillar procollagens types I-III and type V. Mutations in this gene cause Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type VIIC, a recessively inherited connective-tissue disorder. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants, at least one of which encodes an isoform that is proteolytically processed.