Protease component of the Clp complex that cleaves peptides and various proteins in an ATP-dependent process. Has low peptidase activity in the absence of CLPX. The Clp complex can degrade CSN1S1, CSN2 and CSN3, as well as synthetic peptides (in vitro) and may be responsible for a fairly general and central housekeeping function rather than for the degradation of specific substrates (PubMed:11923310, PubMed:15522782). Cleaves PINK1 in the mitochondrion (PubMed:22354088).
