Malic enzyme catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation of malate to pyruvate using either NAD+ or NADP+ as a cofactor. Mammalian tissues contain 3 distinct isoforms of malic enzyme: a cytosolic NADP(+)-dependent isoform, a mitochondrial NADP(+)-dependent isoform, and a mitochondrial NAD(+)-dependent isoform. This gene encodes a mitochondrial NADP(+)-dependent isoform. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants have been found for this gene, but the biological validity of some variants has not been determined.ME3 (Malic Enzyme 3) is a Protein Coding gene. Among its related pathways are Pyruvate metabolism and Carbon metabolism. GO annotations related to this gene include NAD binding and malic enzyme activity. An important paralog of this gene is ME1.