The PDE nomenclature signifies the PDE family with an Arabic numeral, then a capital letter denotes the gene in that family, and a second and final Arabic numeral then indicates the splice variant derived from a single gene (e.g., PDE1C3: family 1, gene C, splicing variant 3).
The superfamily of PDE enzymes is classified into 11 families, namely PDE1-PDE11, in mammals. The classification is based on:
* amino acid sequences
* substrate specificities
* regulatory properties
* pharmacological properties
* tissue distribution
Different PDEs of the same family are functionally related despite the fact that their amino acid sequences can show considerable divergence. PDEs have different substrate specificities. Some are cAMP-selective hydrolases (PDE4, 7 and 8); others are cGMP-selective (PDE5, 6, and 9). Others can hydrolyse both cAMP and cGMP (PDE1, 2, 3, 10, and 11). PDE3 is sometimes referred to as cGMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase. Although PDE2 can hydrolyze both cyclic nucleotides, binding of cGMP to the regulatory GAF-B domain will increase cAMP affinity and hydrolysis to the detriment of cGMP. This mechanism, as well as others, allows for cross-regulation of the cAMP and cGMP pathways. PDE12 cleaves 2,5-phosphodiester bond linking adenosines of the 5'-triphosphorylated oligoadenylates. PDE12 is not a member of the cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase superfamily that contains PDE1 through PDE11.