Background: DHX38 is a member of the DEAH box family of proteins that possesses several conserved motifs which include the highly conserved DEAH (Asp-Glu-Ala-His) amino acid sequence motif. The major activity of DEAH box proteins is to function as ATP-dependent RNA helicases. RNA helicases 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. DHX38 is the human ortholog of the yeast Prp16 protein. DHX38 has been shown to be required for catalytic step II of pre-mRNA splicing.