Exhibits mesoderm-dorsalizing activity and neural-inducing activity, but lacks mesoderm-inducing activity. Regulates the expression of specific mesodermal and neural genes. Induces convergent extension movements at the embryonic midline by activating the fgf signaling pathway to induce t/bra expression in the organizer region. Acts with wnt11 to induce Spemann organizer cells and induce axis formation (By similarity). The unprocessed protein antagonizes bmp-signaling. Monomer (By similarity). The propeptide region interacts with bmp4 in a non-covalent manner. Expressed in the dorsal marginal region of late blastula, becoming restricted to the Spemann organizer at the early gastrula stage. First detected at the blastula stage (stage 8). Expression peaks through the mid-blastula (stage 8.5) to early gastrula (stage 10) and then decreases during gastrulation. The propeptide region is both necessary and sufficient for bmp-inhibitory activity. The propeptide region and the N- and C-terminal thirds of the mature protein are necessary for neural induction activity. Although cleavage doesn't appear essential for activity, residues surrounding the cleavage site are necessary for activity (By similarity). Belongs to the TGF-beta family.