The protein encoded by this gene is the human ortholog of yeast mitochondrial AAA metalloprotease, Yme1p. It is localized in the mitochondria and can functionally complement a yme1 disruptant yeast strain. It is proposed that this gene plays a role in mitochondrial protein metabolism and could be involved in mitochondrial pathologies. Three transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Dec 2011].