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RNA binding motif protein 26 (RBM26), previously known as CTCL antigen se70-2, was first discovered in an attempt to identify cutaneous t-cell lymphoma (CTCL) antigens by sweeping through cDNA data. RBM26 was found to be over expressed in cancerous tisue. The protein was further identified as containing the common features of RNA binding proteins, and was renamed RBM26. . This protein contains two RNA binding motifs as well as a zinc finger domain indicating its function as an RNA binding protein.

Protein domain conservation and possible function
The PWI domain (11-76) of the protein is one of the most highly conserved regions. This domain is crucial to the binding of the protein to RNA and it was likely one of the regions that identified this protein when it was computationally generated by analysis of various genomes. It is likely necessary to function. The DUF (132-165) in humans is only well conserved in the more closely related sequences. This might show that the domain has diverged in its function in the more distantly related species, and that it has a specific function in the vertebrates that is not present in the invertebrates, possibly specificity to the target molecule. The zinc finger domain (294-314) is very highly conserved in even the most distant of paralogs. The zinc finger domain is likely crucial to the function of the protein in binding to RNA. The Enkurin domain (740-821) near the c-terminus is not widely conserved, but is far more conserved in closer orthologs. The function of this region is binding to sperm transient receptor potential channels, so it is not surprising that it has gained this function only in the species that would produce sperm. The RNA recognition motif (536-611) was another highly conserved domain in even distant orthologs. The protein itself has a high level of evolutionary conservation. Its function is clearly to bind to an RNA molecule with high specificity. Its specific function in humans likely involves expression in the testis, and the domain of unknown function is likely to be functioning in a method specific to complex vertebrates.

evolutionary concervation
The RBM gene family is rather large as it is only defined as having an RNA binding motif and are almost all computationally predicted from the genomes of many species. The RBM26 gene is the only member of its specific gene family, but there is much work to do defining and proving the existence of RBM26 proteins in many species it is predicted to exist. The RBM26 gene is highly conserved in vertebrates, but is less conserved in more distant orthologs. The Gene likely diverged from the invertebrates around 1000 to 1400 million years ago.