Alpha-amino-acid esterase

In enzymology, an alpha-amino-acid esterase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * an alpha-amino acid ester + H2O $$\rightleftharpoons$$ an alpha-amino acid + an alcohol

Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are alpha-amino acid ester and H2O, whereas its two products are alpha-amino acid and alcohol.

This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, specifically those acting on carboxylic ester bonds. The systematic name of this enzyme class is alpha-amino-acid-ester aminoacylhydrolase. This enzyme is also called alpha-amino acid ester hydrolase.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, 5 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes, , , , and.