May play a role in mesoderm and/or neural patterning during gastrulation. First detected in the early streak embryo, specifically in the epiblast layer. At the late streak stage, expression is condensed in the rostral half of the primitive streak. At HH stage 4 expression appeared for the first time in the mesendodermal layer of the presumptive prechordal plate rostrally and in the expanding mesoderm laterally. At HH stage 6, labeling in mesendodermal progenitors underlying the future forebrain level of the neuraxis reached its maximum, whereas mesoderm expression, which was restricted to the lateral plate, was accompanied by an underlying endodermal expression at the level of the heart-forming regions. Later gastrulation (HH stage 5-7) was marked by strong expression in the notochord, beneath the future floor plate of the neural tube. Expressed in Hensen node, within its mesenchymal core beneath the epiblast, and at a time when it is morphologically asymmetric. Belongs to the EGF-CFC (Cripto-1/FRL1/Cryptic) family.