Urease decomposes urea to ammonia, and has application potential in agriculture and medical treatment. Urease proteins include structural proteins (UreA, UreB and UreC) and accessory proteins (UreD/UreH, UreE, UreF and UreG), each of them has its own unique role in urease maturation. The structural proteins form the active center of urease, and the accessory proteins are responsible for the delivery of nickel. We review here the structure and function of bacterial urease complexes, and how each protein interacts to complete the activation process. We hope to provide theoretical basis for the regulation of urease activity and the development of urease inhibitors.
脲酶能够催化尿素分解生成氨，在农业和医学领域中具有重要的意义。细菌脲酶蛋白包括结构蛋白(UreA、UreB 和UreC) 和辅助蛋白 (UreD/UreH、UreE、UreF 和UreG)，它们在脲酶活化过程中各自具有独特的作用，结构蛋白形成脲酶活性中心，而辅助蛋白主要负责镍离子的传递。文中综述了细菌脲酶蛋白复合物的结构和功能，以及各蛋白之间如何相互作用完成其活化过程，以期为脲酶活性调控研究及脲酶抑制剂开发等提供理论指导。.
Keywords: accessory protein; activation mechanism; bacterial urease; structural protein.