Variations and constant patterns in eukaryotic MDR enzymes. Conclusions from novel structures and characterized...

Medium-chain dehydrogenases/reductases (MDR) alcohol dehydrogenases exhibit multiple forms through a number of gene duplications. A crucial duplication was the one leading from the glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase line to the liver alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) lines of vertebrates, the first duplication of which can now be further positioned at early vertebrate times. Similarly, screening of MDR forms in recently completed eukaryotic genomes of Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster suggest that the MDR family may constitute a moderately sized protein family centered around a limited number of enzyme activities of five different structural types.