AIG1 hydrolyses bioactive fatty-acid esters of hydroxy-fatty acids (FAHFAs). According to UniProt, it does not act on other major classes of lipids, which makes it a selective lipid hydrolase. It shows a preference for FAHFAs in which the branching lies distal from the carboxylate head group of the lipid. The NCBI Gene summary describes the protein as enabling hydrolase activity and as being involved in the long-chain fatty acid catabolic process.

The AIG1 protein is located at the cell membrane, consistent with the NCBI annotation of a membrane location. It belongs to the AIG1 family, which takes its name from this founding member. The human AIG1 gene is also listed under the aliases AIG-1, dJ95L4.1 and FLJ10485, and the gene symbol reflects the name androgen induced 1. The mouse ortholog is Aig1.

Because FAHFAs are bioactive lipids, the enzymes that degrade them are of interest for understanding how these lipids are controlled in cells. Researchers studying AIG1 can use the AIG1 antibody, AIG1 ELISA kit or AIG1 protein reagents to examine its abundance, localisation and enzymatic behaviour, keeping to the biochemical functions that have been described for this gene.