Acetyltransferase

Acetyltransferase (or transacetylase) is a type of transferase enzyme that transfers an acetyl group, through a process called acetylation. Acetylation serves as a modification that can profoundly transform the functionality of a protein by modifying various properties like hydrophobicity, solubility, and surface attributes. These alterations have the potential to influence the protein's conformation and its interactions with substrates, cofactors, and other macromolecules. The image to the right shows the basic structure of an acetyl group, where R is a variable indicates the remainder of the molecule to which the acetyl group is attached.