Sterol esterase

In enzymology, a sterol esterase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * a steryl ester + H2O $$\rightleftharpoons$$ a sterol + a fatty acid

Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are steryl ester and H2O, whereas its two products are sterol and fatty acid.

This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, specifically those acting on carboxylic ester bonds. The systematic name of this enzyme class is steryl-ester acylhydrolase. Other names in common use include cholesterol esterase, cholesteryl ester synthase, triterpenol esterase, cholesteryl esterase, cholesteryl ester hydrolase, sterol ester hydrolase, cholesterol ester hydrolase, cholesterase, and acylcholesterol lipase. This enzyme participates in bile acid biosynthesis.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, two structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes and.