6-phosphatase-α include Arg170 and Arg83, which donate hydrogen ions to the phosphate, stabilizing the transition state, His119, which provides a proton to the dephosphorylated oxygen attached to glucose, and His176, which completes a nucleophilic attack on the phosphate to form a covalently bound phosphoryl enzyme intermediate. Within the Vanadium-containing chloroperoxidase, Lys353 was found to stabilize the phosphate in the transition state. However, the corresponding residue in glucose 6-phosphatase-α (Lys76) resides within the ER membrane and its function, if any, is currently undetermined. With the exception of Lys76, these residues are all located on the luminal side of the ER membrane. Glucose 6-phosphatase-β is a ubiquitously expressed, 346-amino acid membrane protein that shares 36% sequence identity with glucose 6-phosphatase-α. Within the glucose 6-phosphatase-β enzyme, sequence alignments predict that its active site contains His167, His114, and Arg79. Similar to that of the glucose 6-phosphatase-α active site, His167 is the residue that provides the nucleophilic attack, and His114, and Arg79 are the hydrogen donors. Glucose 6-phosphatase-β is also localized in the ER membrane, although its orientation is unknown. Mechanism The hydrolysis of glucose 6-phosphate begins with a nucleophilic attack on the sugar-bound phosphate by His176 resulting in the formation of a phosphohistidine bond and the degradation of a carbonyl. A Negatively charged oxygen then transfers its electrons reforming a carbonyl and breaking its bond with glucose. The negatively charged glucose-bound oxygen is then protonated by His119 forming a free glucose. The phospho-intermediate produced by the reaction between His176 and the phosphate group is then broken by a hydrophilic attack; after the addition of another hydroxide and the decomposition of a carbonyl, the carbonyl is reformed kicking off the electrons originally donated by the His176 residue thereby creating a free phosphate group and completing the hydrolysis. Expression Genes coding for the enzyme are primarily expressed in the liver, in the kidney cortex and (to a lesser extent) in the β-cells of the pancreatic islets and intestinal mucosa (especially during times of starvation). According to Surholt and Newsholme, glucose 6-phosphatase is present in a wide variety of muscles across the animal kingdom, albeit at very low concentrations. Thus, the glycogen that muscles store is not usually available for the rest of the body's cells because glucose 6-phosphate cannot cross the sarcolemma unless it is dephosphorylated. The enzyme plays an important role during periods of fasting and when glucose levels are low. It has been shown