May function in EGF receptor signaling. May play a role in compound eye morphogenesis. Expressed in the proliferative tissues of embryos and in the mitotically active tissue anterior to the morphogenetic furrow in eye imaginal disks. Expressed at higher levels during the embryonic and pupal stages of development. Expressed in proliferating tissues of the presumptive mesoderm in stage 7 gastrulating embryos. Expressed in the mesectoderm and anterior and posterior midgut primordia of stage 9 embryos. Also expressed in proliferating cells of the central nervous system during germ-band retraction. Belongs to the asteroid family.