RETN belongs to the family defined by the mouse resistin-like genes. The characteristic feature of this family is the C-terminal stretch of 10 cys residues with identical spacing. The mouse homolog of this protein is secreted by adipocytes, and may be the hormone potentially linking obesity to type II diabetes. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene. Recombinant human RETN protein, fused to His-tag at N-terminus, was expressed in E.coli.