title: The SDR (short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase and related enzymes) nomenclature initiative.
abstract: Short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases (SDR) constitute one of the largest enzyme superfamilies with presently over 46,000 members. In phylogenetic comparisons, members of this superfamily show early divergence where the majority have only low pairwise sequence identity, although sharing common structural properties. The SDR enzymes are present in virtually all genomes investigated, and in humans over 70 SDR genes have been identified. In humans, these enzymes are involved in the metabolism of a large variety of compounds, including steroid hormones, prostaglandins, retinoids, lipids and xenobiotics. It is now clear that SDRs represent one of the oldest protein families and contribute to essential functions and interactions of all forms of life. As this field continues to grow rapidly, a systematic nomenclature is essential for future annotation and reference purposes. A functional subdivision of the SDR superfamily into at least 200 SDR families based upon hidden Markov models forms a suitable foundation for such a nomenclature system, which we present in this paper using human SDRs as examples.
authors.affiliation: IFM Bioinformatics, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. bpn@ifm.liu.se
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kallberg
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.forename: Elspeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bruford
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Dellaporta
authors.forename: Angelo D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Favia
authors.forename: Roser Gonzalez
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jörnvall
authors.forename: Kathryn L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Kavanagh
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kedishvili
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kisiela
authors.forename: Edmund
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maser
authors.forename: Rebekka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mindnich
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Orchard
authors.forename: Trevor M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Penning
authors.forename: Janet M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Thornton
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Adamski
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Oppermann
mesh_terms: D020407:Internet; D008390:Markov Chains; D044925:Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D044925:Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors