Enables hormone binding activity. Acts upstream of or within thyroid hormone metabolic process. Located in mitochondrion and nucleus. Is expressed in several structures, including brain; genitourinary system; respiratory system; sensory organ; and tooth. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in autosomal dominant nonsyndromic deafness 40. Orthologous to human CRYM (crystallin mu). [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Apr 2022]