The protein encoded by this gene is an endogenous calpain (calcium-dependent cysteine protease) inhibitor. It consists of an N-terminal domain L and four repetitive calpain-inhibition domains (domains 1–4), and it is involved in the proteolysis of amyloid precursor protein.[citation needed] The calpain/calpastatin system is involved in numerous membrane fusion events, such as neural vesicle exocytosis and platelet and red-cell aggregation. The encoded protein is also thought to affect the expression levels of genes encoding structural or regulatory proteins. Several alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene have been described, but the full-length natures of only some have been determined.[8]
^"Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^"Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^Ma H, Yang HQ, Takano E, Lee WJ, Hatanaka M, Maki M (Sep 1993). "Requirement of different subdomains of calpastatin for calpain inhibition and for binding to calmodulin-like domains". J Biochem. 113 (5): 591–9. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jbchem.a124088. PMID8340353.