DHRS1 Introduction

Introduction.

Short-chain Dehydrogenase/Reductase (SDR) is a large protein family currently numbering about 2000 members (Kallberg et al. 2002). It also goes by the alternative name of the tyrosine-dependent oxidoreductase protein family (Edgar, 2002) because of their conserved tyrosine residue at position 152. Protein families are defined by their structural and functional similarities and generally have evolved from a common ancestor. SDR proteins have a length of about 250 amino acids (aa) and show approximately 15-30% sequence similarity/identity. This is relatively low when compared to other families. Despite this, members still have conserved structural folds and a conserved function.

Often, the term protein family is used interchangeably with gene family,

Edgar, A. (2002) Molecular cloning and tissue distribution of mammalian L-threonine 3-dehydrogenases. BMC Biochemistry (3) 19. Published Online at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2091/3/19

Kallberg, Y. Oppermann, U. Jörnvall, H. and Persson, B. (2002) Short-chain Dehydrogenase/Reductase (SDR) Relationships: A Large Family With Eight Clusters Common to Human, Animal, and Plant Genomes. Protein Science (11) 636-641. http://www.proteinscience.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/636