title: Dicarbonyl/l-xylulose reductase (DCXR): The multifunctional pentosuria enzyme.
abstract: Dicarbonyl/L-xylulose reductase (DCXR) is a highly conserved and phylogenetically widespread enzyme converting L-xylulose into xylitol. It also reduces highly reactive α-dicarbonyl compounds, thus performing a dual role in carbohydrate metabolism and detoxification. Enzymatic properties of DCXR from yeast, fungi and mammalian tissue extracts are extensively studied. Deficiency of the DCXR gene causes a human clinical condition called pentosuria and low DCXR activity is implicated in age-related diseases including cancers, diabetes, and human male infertility. While mice provide a model to study clinical condition of these diseases, it is necessary to adopt a physiologically tractable model in which genetic manipulations can be readily achieved to allow the fast genetic analysis of an enzyme with multiple biological roles. Caenorhabditis elegans has been successfully utilized as a model to study DCXR. Here, we discuss the biochemical properties and significance of DCXR activity in various human diseases, and the utility of C. elegans as a research platform to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanism of the DCXR biology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea; The Research Institute of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea; BK21 PLUS Life Science for BDR Team, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: sunkyungl@hanyang.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sun-Kyung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Le Tho
authors.initials: le T
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Hee-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Joohong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahnn
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002239:Carbohydrate Metabolism, Inborn Errors / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013401:Sugar Alcohol Dehydrogenases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000378:metabolism; D014996:Xylulose
chemical_list: D014996:Xylulose; D013401:Sugar Alcohol Dehydrogenases; C023300:L-xylulose reductase
keywords: AGE; DC; DCXR; DEP; Dicarbonyl/l-xylulose dehydrogenase; Fertility; Longevity; Pentosuria; RAGE; SDR; advanced glycation end-products; dhs-21; dicarbonyl/l-xylulose reductase; diesel exhaust particles; receptor for AGE; short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase; α-dicarbonyl compound