3bsqA Introduction

Sulfatases are enzymes,which hydrolyse sulfate ester bonds of substrates. These are categorised as EC 3.1.6. in enzyme classifications. They all participate in metabolic processes, most of the family members are shown to contain a highly conserved cystine residue and a bivalent metal binding site; but however the molecular and biological function of some of the family members are not yet fully defined. The sulfatase enzyme in our focud is arylsulfatase K, were the crystal structure is been solves, but no functional characterisation is done to the date. In this experiment we looked at proteins with sequence conservation, structural similarity, other proteins that arylsulfatase K is known to interact with, and the level of conservation of some key residues that may be involved in its catalytic actuvity; to determine the possible function of the protein.

Arylsulphatase A (ASA) is a lysosomal enzyme which hydrolyzes cerebroside sulphate. Arylsulphatase B (ASB),also a lysosomal enzyme, which hydrolyzes the sulphate ester group from N-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulphate group of dermatan sulphate.