Transcription factor that may function in dorsoventral specification of the forebrain. Regulates the expression of Wnt signaling antagonists including the expression of a truncated tcf7l2 isoform that cannot bind ctnnb1 and acts therefore as a potent dominant-negative Wnt antagonist. Plays a crucial role in eye development and, in particular, in the specification of the ventral optic vesicle. May be a regulator of axial polarization in the retina. Expression begins at early neurula stage in the anterior neural plate whereas, at late neurula stage detected in the area which gives rise to ventral telencephalic and diencephalic regions and the eye. After neural tube closure and evagination of the optic vesicles at the early tail-bud stage, expression is specifically restricted to anterior and ventral neural structures, namely the ventral part of the optic vesicles and the ventral regions of the forebrain vesicle. This expression pattern is maintained during subsequent developmental stages. In tadpole embryos, specifically expressed in the ventral regions of both telencephalon and diencephalon. Belongs to the EMX homeobox family.