Short Chain Dehydrogenase/Reductase Family 16C, Member 5 (SDR16C5)

RDHE2 belongs to a family of short-chain alcohol dehydrogenases/reductases that catalyze the first and rate-limiting step that generates retinaldehyde from retinol.

All 3 cDNAs encode a deduced 309-amino acid protein containing 3 motifs conserved in 70% of short-chain alcohol dehydrogenases/reductases. Northern blot analysis detected a transcript of about 2.4 kb expressed only in adult lung. RT-PCR detected expression in almost all tissues examined.RDHE2 gene contains 7 exons and spans 20 kb. The 5-prime flanking region is GC rich and contains a GC box and binding sites for several transcription factors, but it has no TATA or CAAT box.