Identification and expression of a cDNA for human hydroxypyruvate/glyoxylate reductase. The isolation and expression of a human liver cDNA encoding a 40-kDa protein with glyoxylate and hydroxypyruvate reductase activities is described. The cDNA (GLXR) is 1235 bp and consists of a predicted open reading frame of 987 bp with a 225-bp 3'-untranslated region. The 328-amino acid protein has partial sequence similarity to hydroxypyruvate and glyoxylate reductases from a variety of plant and microbial species.