The PLD superfamily: insights into catalysis

Knowledge of the PLD superfamily is rapidly expanding and new insights into the mechanism and regulation of the superfamily are rapidly emerging. The recent structural analysis and use of mutant proteins suggest a mechanism t hat involves two active sites acting in concert. While a number of residues are required for activity, it appears most likely that a histidine is the residue that becomes covalently linked to phosphatidate in catalysis. Evide nce for these proposals is covered in this article. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.