Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Pivot Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Target Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Query: EC:6.3.4.6 (
urease
)
7,490
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
At the active site of
urease
, urea undergoes nucleophilic attack by water, whereas urea decomposes in solution by elimination of ammonia so that its rate of spontaneous hydrolysis is unknown. Quantum mechanical simulations have been interpreted as indicating that urea hydrolysis is extremely slow, compared with other biological reactions proceeding spontaneously, and that
urease
surpasses all other enzymes in its power to enhance the rate of a reaction. We tested that possibility experimentally by examining the hydrolysis of 1,1,3,3-tetramethylurea, from which elimination cannot occur. In neutral solution at 25 degrees C, the rate constant for the uncatalyzed hydrolysis of tetramethylurea is 4.2 x 10-12 s-1, which does not differ greatly from the rate constants observed for the uncatalyzed hydrolysis of acetamide (5.1 x 10-11 s-1) or N,N-dimethylacetamide (1.8 x 10-11 s-1) under the same conditions. We estimate that the proficiency of
urease
as a catalyst, (kcat/Km)/knon, is 8 x 1017 M-1, slightly higher than the values for other metalloenzymes (carboxypeptidase b and
cytidine deaminase
) that catalyze the hydrolysis of similar bonds.
...
PMID:The burden borne by urease. 1607 78
