GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:9940

RDH5

retinol dehydrogenase 5

protein-coding gene12q13.2Gene information

What does this gene do?

The RDH5 gene provides instructions for making an enzyme called 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase 5, which is necessary for normal vision, especially in low-light conditions (night vision). This enzyme is found in a thin layer of cells at the back of the eye called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). This cell layer supports and nourishes the retina, which is the light-sensitive tissue in the inner lining of the back of the eye (the fundus).

11-cis retinol dehydrogenase 5 is involved in a multi-step process called the visual cycle, by which light entering the eye is converted into electrical signals that are interpreted as vision. An integral operation of the visual cycle is the recycling of a molecule called 11-cis retinal, which is a form of vitamin A that is needed for the conversion of light to electrical signals. The retinol dehydrogenase 5 enzyme converts a molecule called 11-cis retinol to 11-cis retinal. In light-sensing cells in the retina known as photoreceptors, 11-cis retinal combines with a protein called an opsin to form a photosensitive pigment. When light hits this pigment, 11-cis retinal is altered, forming another molecule called all-trans retinal. This conversion triggers a series of chemical reactions that create electrical signals. 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase 5 then helps convert all-trans retinal back to 11-cis retinal so the visual cycle can begin again.

The eyes contain two types of photoreceptors, rods and cones. Rods are needed for vision in low light, while cones are needed for vision in bright light, including color vision. Rods primarily use 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase 5 to generate 11-cis retinal. Cones also use 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase 5, but they are thought to have additional pathways to produce 11-cis retinal.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2020-08-18. Source review: 2017-02.

ClinGen reviews

ClinGen reviews the evidence linking a particular gene to a condition. Each rating below describes the strength of that link. It does not classify a variant in your DNA file.

Condition	Inheritance	Evidence
RDH5-related retinopathyMONDO:0100443 · Evaluated 2021-09-02	Autosomal recessive	DefinitiveRetina Gene Curation Expert Panel

ClinVar records

These numbers show what has been submitted to ClinVar. They cannot tell you how likely you are to have a condition.

Submitted alleles: 356
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 586
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 550
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 71
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 159
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 21

The rows count different things: alleles, submissions or VariationIDs. Their categories can overlap, so do not add them together. Pathogenic/likely pathogenic counts exclude structural variants that merely overlap a gene. A dash in the source means “not reported,” not zero.

NCBI produces the gene-summary file each week using counts recorded at the start of the month. The numbers may differ from those on the live ClinVar website. Read the field definitions ↗

View this gene in ClinVar ↗

YOUR DNA FILE

Can your DNA file tell you about RDH5?

From a DNA test kit (such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA or MyHeritage). These kits check a fixed list of about 600,000 to 700,000 positions across your whole genome. ClinVar lists 71 alleles in RDH5 reported as pathogenic or likely pathogenic. A kit checks only some of these positions, and often none of them.

From whole genome sequencing (a VCF file). Sequencing reads most of your genome. Your file lists the places where your DNA differs from the reference genome. Some regions are hard to sequence, including parts of some genes that have near-identical copies elsewhere, and a VCF file does not record which positions were read well.

If a variant is not in your file, that does not mean you don’t have it.

What BioDecode checks

BioDecode compares every variant in your file with ClinVar, on your own computer. For each match, it shows the ClinVar classification, the review status and the condition it was reported for. Your file is not uploaded.

A ClinVar classification applies to one particular variant and the condition it was reported for. It does not tell you about other variants in RDH5.

BioDecode cannot fill gaps in your test, diagnose a condition or replace clinical testing.

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