As it involutes, it converges along the mediolateral axis and extends along the future anterior-posterior axis of the notochordal and somitic mesoderm.
The encoded protein may be involved in the placement of hindbrain segments in the proper location along the anterior-posterior axis during development.
When multiple clusters of cells intercalate in the dorsal-ventral axis, through junctional neighbor exchange, the outcome is an extension of germ-band in the anterior-posterior axis.