Ring Finger Protein 17 (RNF17)

In a systematic search for genes expressed in mouse spermatogonia but not in somatic tissues, Wang et al. (2001) identified 25 genes, 19 of which were novel, that are expressed in only male germ cells. One of these genes, Rnf17, maps to chromosome 14 and encodes a RING finger-containing protein. Rnf17 shows testis-specific expression. Wang et al. (2001) identified an orthologous, full-length human RNF17 cDNA sequence.

The RING finger domain is a type of zinc finger which contains a Cys₃HisCys₄ amino acid motif which binds two zinc cations. This protein domain contains from 40 to 60 amino acids. The acronym RING stands for Really Interesting New Gene.