title: A nomenclature system for the aldo-keto reductase superfamily.
abstract: As new members of the AKR superfamily are identified the need for a systematic and expandable nomenclature has risen, especially since some members of the superfamily have multiple names based on substrate specificity. We have proposed a nomenclature system for the AKR superfamily that is similar to the P450 system but based on amino acid sequence comparisons instead of nucleotide sequence comparisons. Our system uses percent amino acid identities to delineate families and subfamilies within the larger superfamily. Although there are not as many AKRs as P450s, having a flexible nomenclature system will allow for easy incorporation of new proteins into the superfamily.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Philadelphia 19104, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Jez
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Penning
mesh_terms: D015096:3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification*; D045002:3-alpha-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase (B-Specific); D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005658:Fungi / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010944:Plants / Q000201:enzymology; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012984:Software; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D010088:Oxidoreductases; D015096:3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; D045002:3-alpha-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase (B-Specific)