Published October 01, 2013 10:29
In collaboration with the group of Beáta G. Vértessy (Inst. of Enzymology) the phosphate ester hydrolysis catalyzed by dUTPase was studied, the reaction pathway now elucidated! The thirteen crystallographic snapshots of the slow conversion and 31P-NMR monitored hydrolysis (with QM modeling) confirm a concerted associative pathway. Unlike foreseen, the nucleophilic attack occurs on the alpha phosphorus atom.