Acetylesterase

In biochemistry, an acetylesterase (EC 3.1.1.6) is a class of enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of acetic esters into an alcohol and acetic acid:

$\mathrm{R}-\mathrm{O}\mathrm{C}(\mathrm{O})\mathrm{C}\mathrm{H}{\phantom{A}}_3+\mathrm{H}{\phantom{A}}_2\mathrm{O}\underset{\text{acetylesterase}}{\overset{}{\to }}\mathrm{R}-\mathrm{O}\mathrm{H}+\mathrm{H}\mathrm{O}-\mathrm{C}(\mathrm{O})\mathrm{C}\mathrm{H}{\phantom{A}}_3$

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 1BS9, 1G66, and 2AXE.

References

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