This gene encodes a member of the Groucho/ transducin-like Enhancer of split family of transcriptional co-repressors. The encoded protein is a component of the mammalian subcortical maternal complex, which is required for preimplantation development. In mouse, knock out of this gene results in cleavage-stage embryonic arrest resulting from defective cytoplasmic F-actin meshwork formation and asymmetric cell division. In human, an allelic variant in this gene is associated with preimplantation embryonic lethality. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2016].