Promotes caspase-mediated apoptosis. This proapoptotic activity is mediated predominantly through the activation of caspase-9. May be a component of the inflammasome, a protein complex which also includes NALP2, CARD8 and CASP1 and whose function would be the activation of proinflammatory caspases.
Tissue specificity: Widely expressed at low levels. Detected in peripheral blood leukocytes, lung, small intestine, spleen, thymus, colon and at lower levels in placenta, liver and kidney. Very low expression in skeletal muscle, heart and brain. Detected in the leukemia cell lines HL-60 and U937, but not in Jurkat T-cell lymphoma and Daudi Burkitt's lymphoma.