Reaction: an aryl sulfate + H2O = a phenol + sulfate
Other name(s): sulfatase; nitrocatechol sulfatase; phenolsulfatase; phenylsulfatase; p-nitrophenyl sulfatase; arylsulfohydrolase; 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfatase; estrogen sulfatase; type I sulfatase; arylsulfatase
Systematic name: aryl-sulfate sulfohydrolase
Comments: Sulfatase enzymes are classified as type I, in which the key catalytic residue is 3-oxo-L-alanine, type II, which are non-heme iron-dependent dioxygenases, or type III, whose catalytic domain adopts a metallo-β-lactamase fold and binds two zinc ions as cofactors. Arylsulfatases are type I enzymes, found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, with rather similar specificities. The key catalytic residue 3-oxo-L-alanine initiates the reaction through a nucleophilic attack on the sulfur atom in the substrate. This residue is generated by posttranslational modification of a conserved cysteine or serine residue by EC 1.8.3.7, formylglycine-generating enzyme, EC 1.1.98.7, serine-type anaerobic sulfatase-maturating enzyme, or EC 1.8.98.7, cysteine-type anaerobic sulfatase-maturating enzyme.
Links to other databases: BRENDA, EXPASY, KEGG, MetaCyc, PDB, CAS registry number: 9016-17-5
References:
1. Dodgson, K.S., Spencer, B. and Williams, K. Studies on sulphatases. 13. The hydrolysis of substituted phenyl sulphates by the arylsulphatase of Alcaligenes metacaligenes. Biochem. J. 64 (1956) 216-221. [PMID: 13363831]
2. Webb, E.C. and Morrow, P.F.W. The activation of an arysulphatase from ox liver by chloride and other anions. Biochem. J. 73 (1959) 7-15. [PMID: 13843260]
3. Roy, A.B. The synthesis and hydrolysis of sulfate esters. Adv. Enzymol. Relat. Subj. Biochem. 22 (1960) 205-235. [PMID: 13744184]
4. Roy, A.B. Sulphatases, lysosomes and disease. Aust. J. Exp. Biol. Med. Sci. 54 (1976) 111-135. [PMID: 13772]
5. Schmidt, B., Selmer, T., Ingendoh, A. and von Figura, K. A novel amino acid modification in sulfatases that is defective in multiple sulfatase deficiency. Cell 82 (1995) 271-278. [PMID: 7628016]
6. Dierks, T., Miech, C., Hummerjohann, J., Schmidt, B., Kertesz, M.A. and von Figura, K. Posttranslational formation of formylglycine in prokaryotic sulfatases by modification of either cysteine or serine. J. Biol. Chem. 273 (1998) 25560-25564. [PMID: 9748219]