BLVRA

UniProt ID: P53004
Organism: Homo sapiens
Review Status: COMPLETE
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Gene Description

BLVRA is the soluble biliverdin IX-alpha reductase (EC 1.3.1.24) that converts biliverdin IX-alpha to bilirubin IX-alpha in the cytosolic terminal reduction step of heme catabolism. It uses NADPH or NADH with pH-dependent preferences; NADPH is generally favored as the physiological donor. Its preference for IX-alpha distinguishes it from the IX-beta reductase BLVRB, although BLVRA also reduces some other synthetic biliverdin configurations poorly. Purified human liver BLVRA contains approximately one zinc ion per protein molecule, and zinc binding is also demonstrated in recombinant human protein. Impaired BLVRA activity can contribute to biliverdin accumulation and hyperbiliverdinemia (green jaundice), particularly in the setting of cholestasis or liver failure. Human-cell experiments also report BLVRA binding to ERK and supporting MEK–ERK complex assembly and ERK nuclear trafficking.

Existing Annotations Review

GO Term Evidence Action Reason
GO:0004074 biliverdin reductase [NAD(P)H] activity
IBA
GO_REF:0000033
ACCEPT
Summary: The inherited biliverdin-reductase function agrees with direct human enzymology.
Reason: The saved PTHR43377 PAINT row places GO:0004074 at IBD node PTN008681150 and includes experimentally characterized human P53004 among descendant seeds. Target self-inclusion is legitimate experimental grounding, not circular inference. Human enzymology independently supports the inherited activity; no contrary target-specific loss is evident.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
GO:0000166 nucleotide binding
IEA
GO_REF:0000002
KEEP AS NON CORE
Summary: Nucleotide binding describes the cofactor-binding component of the enzyme.
Reason: The InterPro-derived annotation is consistent with the NAD(P)-binding domain and direct cofactor kinetics. Retain this biochemical attribute outside the core synthesis, which uses the complete reductase reaction; nucleotide binding alone does not specify a separate physiological function.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
GO:0004074 biliverdin reductase [NAD(P)H] activity
IEA
GO_REF:0000120
ACCEPT
Summary: The combined electronic mapping captures the established reductase reaction.
Reason: GO_REF:0000120 combines automatic mappings. Direct human enzymology in PMID7929092, PMID8424666 and PMID8631357 establishes the reductase activity. The reversible reaction is conventionally written in the oxidative direction in GO; physiological biliverdin reduction uses its reverse direction and is fully consistent with this term.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
GO:0005737 cytoplasm
IEA
GO_REF:0000002
KEEP AS NON CORE
Summary: Cytoplasm is a correct broad location for a soluble cytosolic enzyme.
Reason: The InterPro-derived location is compatible with human cytosolic purification. Retain the existing broad assertion outside the core location field, which uses experimentally supported cytosol; breadth alone does not make this location biologically false.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
Cytoplasm, cytosol
GO:0005829 cytosol
IEA
GO_REF:0000044
ACCEPT
Summary: The UniProt location mapping agrees with cytosolic human enzymology.
Reason: GO_REF:0000044 maps curated subcellular location vocabulary. Human liver cytosolic isolation independently supports the relevant functional compartment; this mapping does not establish that BLVRA is exclusively cytosolic in every signaling context.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
Cytoplasm, cytosol
GO:0008270 zinc ion binding
IEA
GO_REF:0000002
KEEP AS NON CORE
Summary: Zinc binding is experimentally supported as an enzyme-associated property.
Reason: PMID8631357 reports approximately one zinc per purified human liver protein by atomic absorption. Isotope exchange additionally demonstrates zinc binding in both purified tissue protein and recombinant human protein. The abstract does not separately quantify one zinc per recombinant molecule. Retain this experimentally established enzyme-associated property outside the reaction-based core; an indispensable catalytic metal requirement under every assay condition was not established.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
PMID:8631357
protein purified from human liver contains Zn at an approximately 1:1 molar ratio.
GO:0042167 heme catabolic process
IEA
GO_REF:0000002
ACCEPT
Summary: BLVRA performs the terminal reduction reaction in heme catabolism.
Reason: The InterPro-based process assertion is consistent with direct conversion of the heme-breakdown intermediate biliverdin into bilirubin. BLVRA itself catalyzes this step, rather than being only a substrate or a perturbational requirement.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
GO:0106276 biliberdin reductase (NADH) activity
IEA
GO_REF:0000120
ACCEPT
Summary: The NADH-specific electronic reaction is supported by human enzyme assays.
Reason: The combined automatic annotation agrees with cofactor-use experiments in PMID7929092, PMID8424666 and PMID8631357. NADH-dependent catalysis is real even where NADPH is favored physiologically. The original GOA label, including its spelling, is preserved as source data.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
Uses the reactants NADH or NADPH
GO:0106277 biliverdin reductase (NADPH) activity
IEA
GO_REF:0000116
ACCEPT
Summary: The Rhea-derived NADPH reaction is supported experimentally.
Reason: The GO_REF:0000116 reaction mapping agrees with human NADPH-dependent biliverdin reduction. A preferred physiological donor does not imply that the enzyme cannot use NADH.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
GO:0005515 protein binding
IPI
PMID:18463290
Human biliverdin reductase is an ERK activator; hBVR is an E...
MODIFY
Summary: Refine the demonstrated MAPK1 interaction to MAP-kinase binding.
Reason: GOA identifies MAPK1/P28482. The cached Discussion and selected primary Results/Figure 1 describe human-cell co-immunoprecipitation and interaction-dependent ERK activation, including a kinase-deficient BLVRA control. GO:0051019 captures this partner class. It does not assign ERK phosphorylation to BLVRA or equate binding with intrinsic kinase activity.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:18463290
in the complex, hBVR functions as a scaffold.
GO:0005515 protein binding
IPI
PMID:25416956
A proteome-scale map of the human interactome network.
UNDECIDED
Summary: Retain the positive LNX1 association as evidence while deferring its molecular-function refinement.
Reason: IntAct GOA identifies LNX1/Q8TBB1, and the published BLVRA and LNX1 UniProt records reciprocally list this pair. This positive association is not rejected. The canonical LNX1 record identifies an E3 ligase, but isoform 2 replaces residues 1–127, including the RING region at 41–79. PMID25416956 has no pair-level assay table in its available extraction. Consequently, the gene-level partner identity does not establish that the screened construct was the E3-containing form needed to justify GO:0031625. The same pair in three related screens is not three independent physiological validations. Use UNDECIDED pending the exact partner construct or isoform and its relevant binding context; neither a false interaction nor ubiquitination regulation is inferred.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
P53004; Q8TBB1: LNX1; NbExp=5;
file:human/LNX1/LNX1-uniprot.txt
Full=E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase LNX;
GO:0005515 protein binding
IPI
PMID:29892012
An interactome perturbation framework prioritizes damaging m...
UNDECIDED
Summary: Retain the positive LNX1 association as evidence while deferring its molecular-function refinement.
Reason: IntAct GOA identifies LNX1/Q8TBB1, and the published BLVRA and LNX1 UniProt records reciprocally list this pair. This positive association is not rejected. The canonical LNX1 record identifies an E3 ligase, but isoform 2 replaces residues 1–127, including the RING region at 41–79. PMID29892012 does not expose the pair-specific mutant construct in the available extraction. Consequently, the gene-level partner identity does not establish that the screened construct was the E3-containing form needed to justify GO:0031625. The same pair in three related screens is not three independent physiological validations. Use UNDECIDED pending the exact partner construct or isoform and its relevant binding context; neither a false interaction nor ubiquitination regulation is inferred.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
P53004; Q8TBB1: LNX1; NbExp=5;
file:human/LNX1/LNX1-uniprot.txt
Full=E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase LNX;
GO:0005515 protein binding
IPI
PMID:31515488
Extensive disruption of protein interactions by genetic vari...
UNDECIDED
Summary: Retain the positive LNX1 association as evidence while deferring its molecular-function refinement.
Reason: IntAct GOA identifies LNX1/Q8TBB1, and the published BLVRA and LNX1 UniProt records reciprocally list this pair. This positive association is not rejected. The canonical LNX1 record identifies an E3 ligase, but isoform 2 replaces residues 1–127, including the RING region at 41–79. PMID31515488 pair-level supplementary clone data were not inspected. Consequently, the gene-level partner identity does not establish that the screened construct was the E3-containing form needed to justify GO:0031625. The same pair in three related screens is not three independent physiological validations. Use UNDECIDED pending the exact partner construct or isoform and its relevant binding context; neither a false interaction nor ubiquitination regulation is inferred.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
P53004; Q8TBB1: LNX1; NbExp=5;
file:human/LNX1/LNX1-uniprot.txt
Full=E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase LNX;
GO:0005829 cytosol
IDA
GO_REF:0000052
ACCEPT
Summary: Cytosolic localization agrees with direct biochemical evidence.
Reason: Retain the HPA immunofluorescence-based curator assertion. The underlying image was not independently inspected; orthogonal human cytosolic purification in PMID7929092 and PMID8424666 supports the location. No exclusive localization is inferred.
Supporting Evidence:
file:human/BLVRA/BLVRA-uniprot.txt
Cytoplasm, cytosol
GO:0106276 biliberdin reductase (NADH) activity
EXP
PMID:10858451
Studies on the specificity of the tetrapyrrole substrate for...
ACCEPT
Summary: NADH-dependent reduction is established for human BLVRA.
Reason: The cited abstract directly examines human reductase substrate specificity but does not detail the cofactor-specific assay. Retain the curator EXP assignment with independent NADH evidence from PMID7929092 and PMID8424666; the source-specific experimental protocol remains uninspected.
Supporting Evidence:
GO:0106277 biliverdin reductase (NADPH) activity
EXP
PMID:10858451
Studies on the specificity of the tetrapyrrole substrate for...
ACCEPT
Summary: NADPH-dependent reduction is established for human BLVRA.
Reason: PMID10858451 addresses human enzyme substrate specificity; its cached abstract does not expose the NADPH-specific protocol. The curator EXP assertion is consistent with independent human NADPH kinetics in PMID7929092 and PMID8424666, without pretending the original assay was re-read.
Supporting Evidence:
GO:0106277 biliverdin reductase (NADPH) activity
EXP
PMID:7929092
Biliverdin-IX alpha reductase and biliverdin-IX beta reducta...
ACCEPT
Summary: Purified human liver reductase uses NADPH.
Reason: The complete abstract distinguishes IX-alpha-preferring isozymes III/IV from IX-beta-preferring I/II and reports NADPH and NADH use. NADPH is proposed as the physiological donor on kinetic grounds. These biochemical forms are not equated to current curated protein isoforms. The shared dual-donor excerpt is recorded with the NADH annotation from the same paper.
Supporting Evidence:
GO:0106277 biliverdin reductase (NADPH) activity
EXP
PMID:8424666
Purification and characterization of human biliverdin reduct...
ACCEPT
Summary: Human liver biliverdin reductase has NADPH-dependent activity.
Reason: The purified human enzyme uses NADPH preferentially in the reported alkaline-pH assays. This is direct support for the cofactor-specific reaction, not a universal claim that intracellular pH has that value.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:8424666
NADPH was the preferred cofactor
GO:0106277 biliverdin reductase (NADPH) activity
EXP
PMID:8631357
Human biliverdin IXalpha reductase is a zinc-metalloprotein....
ACCEPT
Summary: Human tissue and recombinant BLVRA show NADPH-dependent reduction.
Reason: The complete abstract links human cDNA to purified human protein and reports dual pH/cofactor behavior in the expressed protein. E. coli is the expression host, not the species of the assayed gene product.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:8631357
demonstrated dual pH and cofactor dependence.
GO:0004074 biliverdin reductase [NAD(P)H] activity
IDA
PMID:7929092
Biliverdin-IX alpha reductase and biliverdin-IX beta reducta...
ACCEPT
Summary: Human liver IX-alpha reductase catalyzes biliverdin reduction.
Reason: The purified III/IV enzyme forms preferentially use IX-alpha among the tested biliverdin isomers. The abstract supports preference rather than an absolute inability to reduce every other synthetic substrate.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:7929092
isozymes III and IV preferred biliverdin-IX alpha
GO:0004074 biliverdin reductase [NAD(P)H] activity
IDA
PMID:8424666
Purification and characterization of human biliverdin reduct...
ACCEPT
Summary: The purified human enzyme reduces biliverdin to bilirubin.
Reason: Human liver purification and characterization directly establish the reaction. Differences from rat protein reported in the paper are not evidence that the human annotation is misattributed. The complete reaction-and-compartment sentence from this paper is quoted in the reductase core.
Supporting Evidence:
GO:0004074 biliverdin reductase [NAD(P)H] activity
IDA
PMID:8631357
Human biliverdin IXalpha reductase is a zinc-metalloprotein....
ACCEPT
Summary: Purified and recombinant human BLVRA perform the reductase reaction.
Reason: The human 296-residue cDNA was matched to peptides of purified protein and expressed for functional characterization. The abstract identifies the biliverdin-to-bilirubin reaction and the recombinant enzyme retains dual cofactor dependence, quoted with the NADPH annotation from this paper.
Supporting Evidence:
GO:0005829 cytosol
IDA
PMID:7929092
Biliverdin-IX alpha reductase and biliverdin-IX beta reducta...
ACCEPT
Summary: The catalytic enzyme was purified from human liver cytosol.
Reason: The complete abstract explicitly places the starting activity in human liver cytosolic fractions. Retain the original is_active_in qualifier; it is more informative here than a generic protein-location statement.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:7929092
human liver cytosolic fractions
GO:0005829 cytosol
IDA
PMID:8424666
Purification and characterization of human biliverdin reduct...
ACCEPT
Summary: Cytosol is supported as a compartment of reductase activity.
Reason: The abstract describes biliverdin reduction by the cytosolic enzyme and human liver purification. Retain is_active_in as supplied by GOA; the assay does not rule out additional context-dependent compartments. The complete reaction-and-compartment sentence from this paper is quoted in the reductase core.
Supporting Evidence:
GO:0106276 biliberdin reductase (NADH) activity
IDA
PMID:7929092
Biliverdin-IX alpha reductase and biliverdin-IX beta reducta...
ACCEPT
Summary: Purified human reductase can use NADH as electron donor.
Reason: The abstract directly reports NADH use by the purified enzyme forms. Lower apparent affinity than for NADPH does not invalidate the NADH reaction annotation.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:7929092
NADPH and NADH as electron donors for the reduction of biliverdin.
GO:0106276 biliberdin reductase (NADH) activity
IDA
PMID:8424666
Purification and characterization of human biliverdin reduct...
ACCEPT
Summary: Human reductase uses NADH efficiently under the reported acidic-pH conditions.
Reason: The complete human liver-enzyme abstract states that NADH is more effective at pH 6.0–7.0. Retain the experimentally demonstrated cofactor reaction without extrapolating its relative flux in vivo.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:8424666
NADH was the more effective cofactor
GO:0106276 biliberdin reductase (NADH) activity
IDA
PMID:8631357
Human biliverdin IXalpha reductase is a zinc-metalloprotein....
ACCEPT
Summary: Recombinant human BLVRA retains NADH-dependent reduction.
Reason: The human protein expressed in E. coli retains dual cofactor and pH dependence. The abstract also discusses possible physiological NADH use in human BLVRA. The shared recombinant-enzyme excerpt is recorded with the NADPH annotation from this paper.
Supporting Evidence:
GO:0042167 heme catabolic process
IDA
PMID:10858451
Studies on the specificity of the tetrapyrrole substrate for...
ACCEPT
Summary: The reductase reaction is a catalytic step of heme breakdown.
Reason: The cited abstract characterizes human biliverdin-reductase substrate specificity. Combined with the chemically established conversion of a heme-breakdown intermediate, this supports participation in heme catabolism. No unobserved heme-cleavage activity is assigned to BLVRA.
Supporting Evidence:
GO:0070062 extracellular exosome
HDA
PMID:19056867
Large-scale proteomics and phosphoproteomics of urinary exos...
KEEP AS NON CORE
Summary: Retain the curator-reported urinary exosome detection outside the core.
Reason: The complete abstract describes human urinary-exosome proteomics, but the BLVRA-specific peptide/table entry is not in the normal abstract-only cache and was not independently verified. Retain the HDA detection as a curator-supported non-core association; do not assert that BLVRA is common vesicle cargo, a secretion factor, or incapable of extracellular function.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:19056867
we used LC-MS/MS to profile the proteome of human urinary exosomes.
GO:0070062 extracellular exosome
HDA
PMID:20458337
MHC class II-associated proteins in B-cell exosomes and pote...
KEEP AS NON CORE
Summary: Retain the curator-reported B-cell exosome detection outside the core.
Reason: The abstract reports exosome proteomics but does not expose the BLVRA-specific table entry. Keep the curated HDA association with that limitation; detection does not itself establish an extracellular catalytic role or a role in exosome biogenesis.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:20458337
we first analyzed the total proteome of highly purified B cell-derived exosomes
GO:0005829 cytosol
TAS
Reactome:R-HSA-189384
ACCEPT
Summary: The curated cytosolic reaction location agrees with human purification studies.
Reason: The saved Reactome summary names the biliverdin-reduction reaction but does not itself display its compartment. Retain the Reactome TAS location with independent human cytosolic enzyme evidence from PMID7929092 and PMID8424666, rather than presenting the summary as a location experiment.
Supporting Evidence:
Reactome:R-HSA-189384
BIL is formed from the reduction of biliverdin (BV) by bilverdin reductases BLVRA and BLVRB
GO:0004074 biliverdin reductase [NAD(P)H] activity
IDA
PMID:10858451
Studies on the specificity of the tetrapyrrole substrate for...
ACCEPT
Summary: Human biliverdin-IX-alpha reductase has experimentally characterized substrate preference.
Reason: The complete abstract compares human IX-alpha and IX-beta enzymes with synthetic biliverdins. Bridging propionates favor IX-alpha-reductase activity, while other tested configurations can be poor substrates. This supports the core reaction without the older review’s categorical claim of exclusive IX-alpha specificity.
Supporting Evidence:
PMID:10858451
All other configurations studied were substrates for human biliverdin-IXalpha reductase, albeit poor ones.

Core Functions

Cytosolic reduction of biliverdin IX-alpha to bilirubin IX-alpha using NADH or NADPH, completing the biliverdin-reduction step of heme catabolism. Human enzyme assays establish cofactor use and IX-alpha substrate preference.

Directly Involved In:
Cellular Locations:
Supporting Evidence:

References

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Suggested Questions for Experts

Q: Which endogenous human contexts require the BLVRA–LNX1 association, and which LNX1 isoform and interaction interface were represented in the curated high-throughput pairs?

Q: How do the documented interaction-dependent MAPK effects relate to BLVRA catalytic activities under physiological expression levels?

πŸ“š Additional Documentation

Notes

(BLVRA-notes.md)

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