Secreted signal that acts globally to regulate anterior/posterior axial patterning during development. May play critical roles in patterning both mesodermal and neural tissues (By similarity). It is required for proper vertebral patterning and orofacial development (PubMed:31215115). Signals through activin receptors type-2, ACVR2A and ACVR2B, and activin receptors type-1, ACVR1B, ACVR1C and TGFBR1 leading to the phosphorylation of SMAD2 and SMAD3 (PubMed:28257634). {ECO:0000250|UniProtKB:Q9Z1W4, ECO:0000269|PubMed:28257634, ECO:0000269|PubMed:31215115}. This is the function of Ensembl gene identifier ENSG00000135414 (GDF11, growth differentiation factor 11).