During a large-scale screen of a human fetal brain cDNA library, a novel human gene GNB2L1 encoding a novel RACK (receptor of activated protein kinase C) protein was isolated and sequenced. The cDNA is 1142 bp long and has a predicted open reading frame encoding 316 aa. The predicted protein shows higher similarity to rat RACK1 and many RACK proteins of different organisms including Drosophila, C. elegans, mouse, rat, human, C. fasciculata, zebrafish, A. thaliana, S. cerevisiae and so on, suggesting it is conserved during evolution. The gene was mapped to human chromosome 5q35.3, the telomer position of chromosome 5q, in which the disease gene for early-onset primary congenital lymphedema was mapped. Also, 5q35.3 is a frequently reported location for cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities in renal cell carcinomas. The gene has 8 exons and 7 introns. It is expressed ubiquitously in many human tissues detected by northern blot analysis and RT-PCR.