Background: DDX46 is a member of the DEAD box family of proteins that possesses several conserved motifs which include the highly conserved DEAD (Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp) amino acid sequence motif. The major activity of DEAD box proteins is to function as ATP-dependent RNA helicases. As helicases, DEAD proteins play an important role in all aspects of RNA metabolism and function which include pre-mRNA splicing, RNA synthesis, RNA degradation, RNA export, RNA translation, RNA secondary structure formation, ribosome biogenesis, and the assembly of RNP complexes. DDX46 is a component of the 17S U2 snRNP complex and plays and important role in pre-mRNA splicing.