Background information
The sterile alpha motif (SAM) domain is a 70 residue structure found in a large number of proteins involved in diverse processes present throughout eukaryotes. The SAM domain is known to bind RNA and is arranged in a small five-helix bundle with two large interfaces. SAMD14 (sterile alpha motif domain-containing protein 14) is a 417 amino acid protein encoded by the SAMD14 gene which maps to human chromosome 17. Chromosome 17 makes up over 2.5% of the human genome with about 81 million bases encoding over 1,200 genes. Two key tumor suppressor genes are associated with chromosome 17, namely, p53 and BRCA1. Chromosome 17 is also linked to neurofibromatosis, a condition characterized by neural and epidermal lesions, and dysregulated Schwann cell growth, Alexander disease, Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome and Canavan disease.
