KDEL Endoplasmic Reticulum Protein Retention Receptor 3 (KDELR3)

Retention of resident soluble proteins in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is achieved in both yeast and animal cells by their continual retrieval from the cis-Golgi, or a pre-Golgi compartment. This process is mediated by a receptor that recognizes, and binds the tetrapeptide-containing protein, and returns it to the ER. In yeast, the sorting receptor encoded by a single gene, ERD2, is a seven-transmembrane protein. Unlike yeast, several human homologs of the ERD2 gene, constituting the KDEL receptor gene family, have been described. KDELR3 was the third member of the family to be identified, and it encodes a protein highly homologous to KDELR1 and KDELR2 proteins. Two transcript variants of KDELR3 that arise by alternative splicing, and encode different isoforms of KDELR3 receptor, have been described.