ZNF18 is annotated in UniProt as a protein that may be involved in transcriptional regulation. NCBI Gene summarises the predicted activities of the ZNF18 gene product in more detail: it is predicted to enable DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific, and to bind RNA polymerase II cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA. It is also predicted to be involved in the regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II. These assignments are predictions rather than experimentally established mechanisms, and the function of the protein remains to be fully defined.

The ZNF18 protein belongs to the Krueppel C2H2-type zinc-finger protein family. In the HGNC classification it sits in three groups: zinc fingers C2H2-type, SCAN domain containing, and KRAB domain containing. This combination of domains is typical of a family of sequence-specific DNA-binding regulators. The protein is predicted to be located in the nucleus, and UniProt lists its subcellular location as the nucleus, consistent with a role in gene regulation.

The gene has been known under several names. The previous HGNC name was zinc finger protein 18 (KOX 11), and aliases include ZKSCAN6, KOX11, HDSG1, Zfp535, ZNF535 and ZSCAN38. Orthologues are named Znf18 in both mouse and rat, which allows comparative work in rodent models. Researchers studying ZNF18 can use the gene and protein identifiers to cross-reference these names across databases.