Acts both as a repressor and an activator of transcription (PubMed:21654807). Binds to the consensus sequence 5'-GACCACCCAC-3' (By similarity). By controlling the expression of genes involved in cell differentiation inhibits the lineage commitment of multipotent cells (PubMed:21654807). Prevents, for instance, the differentiation of multipotent mesenchymal cells into adipocyte and osteoblast (By similarity). {ECO:0000250|UniProtKB:Q8K1M4, ECO:0000269|PubMed:21654807}. This is the function of GLIS1 (GLIS family zinc finger 1, Ensembl gene identifier ENSG00000174332).