Background information
The tripartite motif (TRIM) family of proteins are characterized by a conserved TRIM domain that includes a coiled-coil region, a B-box type zinc finger, one RING finger and three zinc-binding domains. TRIM17 (tripartite motif-containing 17), also known as RBCC, terf or RNF16, is a 477 amino acid protein that contains one RING-type zinc finger, one SPRY domain and one B box-type zinc finger. Expressed nearly exclusively in testis, TRIM17 belongs to the TRIM family and, based on its functional domains, may play a role in transcriptional regulation events. The gene encoding TRIM17 maps to human chromosome 1, which spans 260 million base pairs, contains over 3,000 genes and comprises nearly 8% of the human genome. Chromosome 1 houses a large number of disease-associated genes, including those that are involved in familial adenomatous polyposis, Stickler syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Gaucher disease, schizophrenia and Usher syndrome. Aberrations in chromosome 1 are found in a variety of cancers, including head and neck cancer, malignant melanoma and multiple myeloma.
