Kinetic properties and inhibition of the dimeric dUTPase-dUDPase from Campylobacter jejuni.

The enzyme deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) catalyses the hydrolysis of dUTP to dUMP and PPi thus controlling the incorporation of uracil into DNA genomes. In Campylobacter jejuni dUTPase exhibits structural properties of dimeric proteins characteristic of protozoa of the Kinetoplastidae family. In the present study we perform a kinetic analysis of Campylobacter dUTPase using the continuous spectrophotometric method and show that the enzyme is highly specific for deoxyuridine nucleotides.