ADAMTS13 is a zinc-containing metalloprotease enzyme. The ADAMTS13 gene is mapped to chromosome 9q34 by genomic sequence analysis. It is reported that a metal-containing proteolytic enzyme (metalloprotease) in normal plasma cleaves the peptide bond between tyrosine at position 842 and methionine at position 843 in monomeric subunits of von Willebrand factor, thereby degrading the large multimers. And it is confirmed that the ADAMTS13 gene encodes the von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease (VWFCP). ADAMTS13 is secreted in blood and degrades large vWf multimers, decreasing their activity.
