The product of this gene belongs to the FGGY kinase family of proteins and encodes glycerol kinase. Glycerol kinase is a key enzyme in the regulation of glycerol uptake and metabolism. It catalyzes the phosphorylation of glycerol by ATP, yielding ADP and glycerol-3-phosphate. Defects in this gene are the cause of glycerol kinase deficiency (GKD). Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been identified.
