a metalloprotease that belongs to the M-13 sub-family of zinc-dependent metallopeptidases; almost exclusively expressed in selected neuronal populations of the brain and spinal cord; the only exceptions were the intermediate and anterior lobes of the pituitary as well as the choroid plexuses, where NEP2 was also strongly expressed; these localisations as well as those in the hypothalamic nuclei, together with the previously established pattern of cleaved peptides, suggest the involvement of NEP2 in the metabolism of neurohormones of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis; has been sequenced
