該基因編碼的蛋白是一種細胞凋亡調節因子，其結構與caspase-8相似。然而，編碼蛋白缺乏半胱天冬酶活性，似乎自己被半胱天冬酶8分裂成兩個肽。該基因有幾種編碼不同亞型的轉錄變體，并且存在更多變體的部分證據。
The protein encoded by this gene is a regulator of apoptosis and is structurally similar to caspase-8. However, the encoded protein lacks caspase activity and appears to be itself cleaved into two peptides by caspase-8. Several transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene, and partial evidence for several more variants exists.