Acts as a transcriptional activator which regulates the expression of several rod-specific genes, including RHO and PDE6B (PubMed:21981118). Also functions as a transcriptional coactivator, stimulating transcription mediated by the transcription factor CRX and NR2E3 (PubMed:17335001). Binds to the rhodopsin promoter in a sequence- specific manner (PubMed:17335001). {ECO:0000269|PubMed:17335001, ECO:0000269|PubMed:21981118}. This is the function of ENSG00000129535 (NRL, neural retina leucine zipper).