InterPro domain: IPR002018

Higher eukaryotes have many distinct esterases. Among the different types arethose which act on carboxylic esters ( 3.1.1 ). Carboxyl-esterases havebeen classified into three categories (A, B and C) on the basis ofdifferential patterns of inhibition by organophosphates. The sequence of anumber of type-B carboxylesterases indicates [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] that the majority are evolutionary related. As is the case for lipases and serine proteases, the catalytic apparatus ofesterases involves three residues (catalytic triad): a serine, a glutamate oraspartate and a histidine.

1. On the origins of esterases. Mol. Biol. Evol. 5, 113-9
2. Cholinesterase-like domains in enzymes and structural proteins: functional and evolutionary relationships and identification of a catalytically essential aspartic acid. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 88, 6647-51
3. Relationship between sequence conservation and three-dimensional structure in a large family of esterases, lipases, and related proteins. Protein Sci. 2, 366-82