[Histidine triad protein superfamily--biological function and enzymatic activity].

The HIT superfamily consists of proteins that share the histidine triad motif, His-X-His-X-His-X-X (where X is a hydrophobic amino acid), which constitutes enzymatic catalytic center. These enzymes act as nucleotidylyl hydrolase or transferase, and the mutation of the second histidine in the triad abolishes their activity. HIT proteins were found ubiquitous in all organisms and they were classified into 5 branches, which are represented by human proteins: HINT1, FHIT, Aprataxin, GALT and DCPS.