Probably acts as a transcriptional activator. May bind to the minimal GLI-consensus sequence 5'-GGGTGGTC-3'. Can determine the ectodermal cell fate and promote the earliest step of neural and neural crest development. Involved in establishing left-right asymmetry in the embryo. First detected at early gastrula (stage 10.25) in the dorsal lip and prospective neural plate. Also expressed in the mesoderm at early gastrulation, with expression strongest on the dorsal side. Mesodermal expression continues at stage 12 but is hardly detectable after stage 14. As gastrulation proceeds, expression decreases in the dorsal lip and increases in the prospective neural plate. At the neural plate stage (stage 14), expressed strongly in the prospective mesencephalon and anterior rhombencephalon, after which expression becomes stronger in the anterior neural folds. At early tailbud stage (stage 20), expression becomes restricted to the dorsal region of forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain, and weakly to the dorsal trunk. After mid-tailbud stage, expression decreases in the diencephalon, appears in the lateral mesoderm of the tailbud region and becomes restricted in the dorsal part of the neural tube. Expressed zygotically. First expressed from the late blastula. By dvr1/vg1, activin and t/bra in the mesoderm. By heteromeric AP-1 (fos/jun) during activin signaling. By increases in Ca(2+) in the dorsal ectoderm, triggered by planar signals from the mesoderm. Suppressed by bmp-signaling. By pbx1 and meis1. By zic1, zic2 and zic3 but not zic5. The C2H2-type 3, 4 and 5 zinc finger domains are necessary for transcription activation (By similarity). The zinc fingers and the N-terminus are independently important for establishing the L/R axis. Belongs to the GLI C2H2-type zinc-finger protein family. Truncated N-terminus.