A nucleotidase is a

hydrolytic enzyme Hydrolase is a class of enzyme that commonly perform as biochemical catalysts that use water to break a chemical bond, which typically results in dividing a larger molecule into smaller molecules. Some common examples of hydrolase enzymes are est ...

that catalyzes the

hydrolysis Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolysis i ...

of a

nucleotide Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecules with ...

into a

nucleoside Nucleosides are glycosylamines that can be thought of as nucleotides without a phosphate group. A nucleoside consists simply of a nucleobase (also termed a nitrogenous base) and a five-carbon sugar (ribose or 2'-deoxyribose) whereas a nucleotide ...

and a

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...

. : A

+ H₂O = a

For example, it converts

adenosine monophosphate Adenosine monophosphate (AMP), also known as 5'-adenylic acid, is a nucleotide. AMP consists of a phosphate group, the sugar ribose, and the nucleobase adenine; it is an ester of phosphoric acid and the nucleoside adenosine. As a substituent it t ...

adenosine Adenosine (symbol A) is an organic compound that occurs widely in nature in the form of diverse derivatives. The molecule consists of an adenine attached to a ribose via a β-N9-glycosidic bond. Adenosine is one of the four nucleoside building b ...

, and

guanosine monophosphate Guanosine monophosphate (GMP), also known as 5′-guanidylic acid or guanylic acid (conjugate base guanylate), is a nucleotide that is used as a monomer in RNA. It is an ester of phosphoric acid with the nucleoside guanosine. GMP consists of the ...

guanosine Guanosine (symbol G or Guo) is a purine nucleoside comprising guanine attached to a ribose (ribofuranose) ring via a β-N9-glycosidic bond. Guanosine can be phosphorylated to become guanosine monophosphate (GMP), cyclic guanosine monophosphate (c ...

. Nucleotidases have an important function in

digestion Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food molecules into small water-soluble food molecules so that they can be absorbed into the watery blood plasma. In certain organisms, these smaller substances are absorbed through the small intes ...

in that they break down consumed

nucleic acids Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main clas ...

. They can be divided into two categories, based upon the end that is hydrolyzed: * : 5'-nucleotidase - NT5C, NT5C1A, NT5C1B, NT5C2, NT5C3 * : 3'-nucleotidase - NT3 5'-Nucleotidases cleave off the phosphate from the 5' end of the sugar moiety. They can be classified into various kinds depending on their substrate preferences and subcellular localization. Membrane-bound 5'-nucleotidases display specificity toward adenosine monophosphates and are involved predominantly in the salvage of preformed nucleotides and in signal transduction cascades involving purinergic receptors. Soluble 5'-nucleotidases are all known to belong to the haloacid dehalogenase superfamily of enzymes, which are two domain proteins characterised by a modified Rossman fold as the core and variable cap or hood. The soluble forms are further subclassified based on the criterion mentioned above. mdN and cdN are mitochondrial and cytosolic 5'-3'-pyrimidine nucleotidases. cN-I is a cytosolic nucleotidase(cN) characterized by its affinity toward AMP as its substrate. cN-II is identified by its affinity toward either IMP or GMP or both. cN-III is a pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase. A new class of nucleotidases called IMP-specific 5'-nucleotidase has been recently defined. 5'-Nucleotidases are involved in varied functions like cell–cell communication, nucleic acid repair, purine salvage pathway for the synthesis of nucleotides, signal transduction, membrane transport, etc.

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* EC 3.1.3 Chemical pathology {{3.1-enzyme-stub

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