ABSTRACT
Our main research efforts were directed in the past to a peculiar class of enzymes carrying vanadate as a prosthetic group, the vanadium-containing haloperoxidases. We recently established a surprising homology between this group of enzymes and several families of acid phosphatases that were formerly considered unrelated. These families of acid phosphatases include glucose-6-phosphatase, lipid phosphatases from bacteria and yeast, lipid phosphatases from higher eukaryotes that are involved in signal transduction, and secreted bacterial phosphatases. Some excellent reviews within recent years describe these enzymes and their (putative) physiological roles (1-10). In this chapter we describe the homology and some of the important implications, especially for glucose-6-phosphatase, the enzyme involved in von Gierke disease. For more extensive treatment of the groups of enzymes mentioned in this chapter, the reader is directed to Refs. 1-10.
