This gene encodes a member of the cysteine-aspartic acid protease (caspase) family of enzymes. Sequential activation of caspases plays a central role in the execution-phase of cell apoptosis. Caspases exist as inactive proenzymes which undergo proteolytic processing at conserved aspartic acid residues to produce two subunits, large and small, that dimerize to form the active enzyme. This protein is processed by caspases 7, 8 and 10, and is thought to function as a downstream enzyme in the caspase activation cascade. Alternative splicing of this gene results in multiple transcript variants that encode different isoforms.