Gene
HSD17B4
hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 4
- HGNC 5213↗(opens in a new tab)
- Ensembl gene ENSG00000133835↗(opens in a new tab)
- NCBI Gene 3295↗(opens in a new tab)
Summary
- Cytogenetic location
- 5q23.1
- Coordinates
- Chromosome 5: 119,452,497–119,542,332 (GRCh38)
- Exons
- 24 exons across 89.8 kb
- Protein
- 736 amino acids
- Inheritance
- Autosomal recessive
- Also known as
- MFE-2, DBP, SDR8C1
- MANE Select transcript
- ENST00000510025.7NM_000414.4
- Locus type
- gene with protein product
- Very high
- Confident
- Low
- Very low
Reference genomeGRCh38hg38
Positions on gene and variant pages follow this choice, in this browser.
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Get my Genome TestCurated reports relevant to this gene
Female Infertility
Diminished or absent ability of a female to achieve conception.
- ClinGen rates the link definitive
- 3 GenCC submitters rate it definitive or strong
Peroxisomal Enzyme Disorders & Refsum Disease
- D-Bifunctional Protein DeficiencyAutosomal recessive
Caused by variants in HSD17B4, which usually causes severe low muscle tone and seizures in infancy, while milder forms can cause hearing loss and ovarian failure (Perrault syndrome).
- ClinGen rates the link definitive
- 7 GenCC submitters rate it definitive or strong
What knowing changes
Knowing can end a diagnostic search and guide supportive care and family planning.
Inheritance
- Autosomal recessive
- It takes a changed copy from each parent. With one, you are a carrier and usually unaffected; when both parents are carriers, each child has a one-in-four chance of inheriting two.
How HSD17B4 is laid out
- Coding sequence
- Untranslated region
- Intron
- Direction of transcription
- Known disease-causing sites
- Stretches short reads find hard
Exons of the gene's MANE Select transcript (release v1.5), from NCBI and EMBL-EBI, on the GRCh38 reference genome.
Chromosome bands from UCSC's GRCh38 ideogram (2022-10-29).
Nearby genes from Ensembl release 116, on GRCh38.
Exons make up 2.6 kb of the gene's 89.8 kb; 2,211 of those bases code for the protein.
How a genome test reads HSD17B4
226
positions in HSD17B4 where ClinVar classes a change as pathogenic or likely pathogenic
None of them falls in a region short reads find hard.
A whole genome covers all 89.8 kb of HSD17B4, introns included, not only the 2.6 kb of exons.
Genes linked to the same conditions
- ANKRD31ankyrin repeat domain 31Shares 1 condition
- ATMATM serine/threonine kinaseShares 1 condition
- BMP15bone morphogenetic protein 15Shares 1 condition
- BNC1basonuclin zinc finger protein 1Shares 1 condition
- CLPPcaseinolytic mitochondrial matrix peptidase proteolytic subunitShares 1 condition
- CYP19A1cytochrome P450 family 19 subfamily A member 1Shares 1 condition
- FANCMFA complementation group MShares 1 condition
- FIGLAfolliculogenesis specific bHLH transcription factorShares 1 condition
- FMR1fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein 1Shares 1 condition
- FOXL2forkhead box L2Shares 1 condition
- FSHRfollicle stimulating hormone receptorShares 1 condition
- GALTgalactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferaseShares 1 condition
Traits linked to HSD17B4
The Human Phenotype Ontology lists these as features of the rare conditions HSD17B4 can cause. Each trait's page lists the other genes linked to it.
Abnormality of the nervous system
- Global developmental delay
- Grand mal seizures
- Intellectual disability, mild
- Nerve damage causing decreased feeling and movement
- Epilepsy
- Ataxia
- Cerebral dysmyelination
- Decreased nerve conduction velocity
Show 15 more traits
- Degeneration of cerebellum
- Difficulty articulating speech
- Intention tremor
- More grooves in brain
- Small cerebrum
- Underdevelopment of part of brain called corpus callosum
- Ventriculomegaly
- Absent reflexes
- Decreased reflex response
- Motor delay
- Motor regression
- Corpus callosum atrophy
- Cortical dysplasia
- Gliosis
- Inability to coordinate movements when walking
Abnormality of the musculoskeletal system
- Calcific stippling
- Low muscle tone
- Low muscle tone, in neonatal onset
- Funnel chest
- Spastic diplegia
- Decreased muscle mass
- Delayed bone maturation
- Osteopenia
Show 3 more traits
External links
Gene records
Transcript
Protein
Where this comes from
- HGNC: the gene's symbol, name, other symbols and location.
- MANE Select v1.5, from NCBI and EMBL-EBI: the transcript, its exons and coding sequence.
- GenCC and ClinGen, released 2026-10-16: which conditions the gene is linked to, and how strongly.
- The ACMG secondary findings list, SF v3.2.
- ClinVar and the GIAB stratifications: known disease-causing sites, and the regions short reads find hard.
- The Human Phenotype Ontology, release 2026-09-01: the traits linked to the gene. Find out more at hpo.jax.org.
- Data release 2026.10.16-c6eea6bf.
Cite this page
Dante Labs. (n.d.). HSD17B4 gene: hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 4. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://dantelabs.com/genes/hsd17b4
Dante Labs. HSD17B4 gene: hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 4 [Internet]. [cited 16 October 2026]. Available from: https://dantelabs.com/genes/hsd17b4
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