Acetylesterase Explained

acetylesterase
Ec Number:	3.1.1.6
Cas Number:	9000-82-2
Go Code:	0008126

In biochemistry, an acetylesterase is a class of enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of acetic esters into an alcohol and acetic acid:

$\backslash ce\; \backslash quad\; \backslash xrightarrow[\backslash text\{acetylesterase\}]\; \backslash quad\; \backslash ce$

This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, specifically those acting on carboxylic ester bonds (esterases). The systematic name of this enzyme class is acetic-ester acetylhydrolase. Other names in common use include C-esterase (in animal tissues), acetic ester hydrolase, chloroesterase, p-nitrophenyl acetate esterase, and citrus acetylesterase.

Structural studies

As of late 2007, 3 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes,, and .

References

• Aldridge WN . Serum esterases. I. Two types of esterase (A and B) hydrolysing p-nitrophenyl acetate, propionate and butyrate, and a method for their determination . The Biochemical Journal . 53 . 1 . 110–7 . January 1953 . 13032041 . 1198110 . 10.1042/bj0530110 .
• Bergmann F, Rimon S . Fractionation of C-esterase from the hog's kidney extract . The Biochemical Journal . 77 . 2 . 209–14 . November 1960 . 16748846 . 1204974 . 10.1042/bj0770209 .
• Jansen EF, Nutting MD, Balls AK . The reversible inhibition of acetylesterase by diisopropyl fluorophosphate and tetraethyl pyrophosphate . The Journal of Biological Chemistry . 175 . 2 . 975–87 . September 1948 . 18880795 .