Endothelin-converting enzyme-like I (ECELI; 'XCE'): a putative metallopeptidstse crucially involved in the nervous control of respiration

Endothelin-converting enzyme-like I (ECEL1) is a putative zinc metalloprote ase that was recently identified on the basis of its strong similarity to e ndothelin-converting enzyme 1. The physiological function of ECEL1 remains unkno cvn so far; the failure to identify: a substrate for ECEL1 could be r elated to the endoplasmic reticulum subcellular localization found by immun ofluorescence in recombinant systems. However, clues to the function of ECE L1 mere provided by the inactivation of its gene in mice, which resulted in neonatal lethality. The phenotype of homozygous ECEL1(-/-) mice, together with the very specific expression profile of its mRNA in the central nervou s system, suggests that ECEL1 is crucially involved in the nervous control of respiration.