This gene encodes an adhesive junction associated protein of the armadillo/beta-catenin superfamily and is implicated in brain and eye development and cancer formation. The protein encoded by this gene promotes the disruption of E-cadherin based adherens junction to favor cell spreading upon stimulation by hepatocyte growth factor. This gene is overexpressed in prostate adenocarcinomas and is associated with decreased expression of tumor suppressor E-cadherin in this tissue. This gene resides in a region of the short arm of chromosome 5 that is deleted in Cri du Chat syndrome. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms.