We previously identified, through differential screening of a human primary liver cancer library, a novel gene (named HIP) the expression of which is markedly increased in 25% of human primary liver cancers. HIP mRNA expression is tissue specific since it is restricted to pancreas and small intestine. HIP protein consists in a signal peptide linked to a carbohydrate-recognition domain (CRD), typical of C-type lectins without other binding domains. We have proposed that HIP and related proteins belong to a new family of C-type lectins. Drickamer [Drickamer, K. (1993) Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 3,393-400] included this group of proteins in his classification of C-type lectins as the free CRD (group VII) lectins. In the present report we describe the genomic organization and the chromosomal localization of HIP. We have shown that HIP is in fact the pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) and provided a phylogenetic analysis of the free CRD lectins. Furthermore, the analysis of HIP/PAP gene indicates that the HIP/PAP CRD is encoded by four exons, a pattern shared with all members of this group of proteins. This common intron-exon organization indicates an ancient divergence of the free CRD-lectin group from other groups of C-type lectins. We provide evidence for the localization of HIP/PAP on chromosome 2, suggesting previous duplication of HIP/PAP and the related reg I alpha and reg I beta genes from the same ancestral gene. Finally, the sequence of the 5' upstream region of the HIP gene shows several potential regulatory elements which might account for the enhanced expression of the gene during pancreatic inflammation and liver carcinogenesis.