GO:0070006

Catalysis of the hydrolysis of N-terminal amino acid residues from a polypeptide chain by a mechanism in which water acts as a nucleophile, one or two metal ions hold the water molecule in place, and charged amino acid side chains are ligands for the metal ions. [GOC:mah, http://merops.sanger.ac.uk/about/glossary.htm#AMINOPEPTIDASE, http://merops.sanger.ac.uk/about/glossary.htm#CATTYPE]