Millard_1999_J.Am.Chem.Soc_121_9883

The presence of a precisely aligned active-site triad (Ser-His-Asp/Glu) in the three-dimensional structures of widely different hydrolytic enzymes has generated intense interest in the chemical modus operandi of this catalytic motif. 1 One hypothesis, which has not received wide acceptance, proposes that the imidazole of the catalytic His is mobile during enzyme function. 2 We solved the structures of the phosphonylation and dealkylation ("aging") reaction products of acetylcholinesterase (AChE; EC 3.1.1.7) and an organophosphorus (OP) inhibitor, O-ethyl-S-[2-[bis(1-meth-ylethyl) amino]ethyl] methylphosphonothioate (VX) by X-ray crystallography. The structures clearly demonstrate reversible movement of the catalytic His. Moreover, the conformational change apparently involves a hydrogen (H-) bond with a glutamate (E199) which had been implicated previously in OP and substrate reactions.