<p> 5'-nucleotidases (<db_xref db="EC" dbkey="3.1.3.5"/>) are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of phosphate esterified at carbon 5' of the ribose and deoxyribose portions of nucleotide molecules. 5'-nucleotidase is a ubiquitous enzyme found in a wide variety of species and which occurs in different cellular locations. All these proteins share regions of sequence similarity, this signature pattern is located in the N- terminal section of these enzymes and contains a perfectly conserved pentapeptide.</p>