This gene is a member of the complement factor H (CFH) gene family, and encodes one of the 5 CFH-related (CFHR) proteins. These 5 genes are closely linked to the CFH gene on chromosome 1q31-q32. The CFHRs are secreted plasma proteins synthesized primarily by the hepatocytes, and composed of highly-related short consensus repeats (SCRs). This protein enhances the cofactor activity of CFH, and is involved in complement regulation. It can associate with lipoproteins and may play a role in lipid metabolism. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms (varying in the number of SCRs) have been described for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jan 2011].