This gene is a member of the UBA domain family, whose members include proteins having connections to ubiquitin and the ubiquitination pathway. The ubiquitin associated domain is thought to be a non-covalent ubiquitin binding domain consisting of a compact three helix bundle. This particular protein originates from a gene locus in a refined region on chromosome 9 undergoing loss of heterozygosity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).