This gene encodes a member of the DEAD box family of RNA helicases that are involved in a variety of cellular processes as a result of its role as an adaptor molecule, promoting interactions with a large number of other factors. This protein is involved in pathways that include the alteration of RNA structures, plays a role as a coregulator of transcription, a regulator of splicing, and in the processing of small noncoding RNAs. Members of this family contain nine conserved motifs, including the conserved Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp (DEAD) motif, important to ATP binding and hydrolysis as well as RNA binding and unwinding activities. Dysregulation of this gene may play a role in cancer development. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2017]
Forensic Context
A study in Sprague-Dawley rats demonstrated that tibial fracture induces temporally stratified transcriptomic changes in the spinal cord, with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis predicting the DDX5 as an upstream master regulator of neurodegeneration-associated genes at 3 and 7 days post-fracture [Deng et al. DOI:10.1038/s41598-025-17561-6].