SCAN domain-containing 2 gene (SCAND2) is a novel nuclear protein derived from the zinc finger family by exon shuffling.

The SCAN domain is a recently recognized protein domain that characterizes a subfamily of the Krüppel-like zinc finger proteins. We have previously described a novel SCAN domain-containing 2 gene (SCAND2) that does not belong to the zinc finger family. We report structural and sequence analyzes of all known members of the SCAN family and use these data to illustrate a model of gene family evolution. Most of the SCAN containing genes share common gene organization features that support the proposed origin for SCAND2 by disruption of an ancestral SCAN-zinc finger gene by a retroposition event and subsequent exon shuffling.