May have a role in muscle development and neural differentiation, has no specific role in anteroposterior patterning. Maternal transcript is found mainly in the animal hemisphere. Zygotic transcript is found around the blastopore and in the late gastrula stage, in the dorsal part. In later stages it is found along the dorsal part and head region. The maternal protein is detected up to the blastula stage but declines by the early glastrula. Zygotic expression starts at around early gastrula; the level of expression reached at stage 15 persists during neurula and tailbud stages, and is further increased during the tadpole stages. Glycosylated. Belongs to the heparin-binding growth factors family.