In vertebrates, membrane-bound ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases
(NTPDases) on the cell surface are responsible for signal conversion and
termination in purinergic signaling by extracellular nucleotides. Here we
present apo and complex structures of the rat NTPDase2 extracellular domain and
Legionella pneumophila NTPDase1, including a high-resolution structure with a
transition-state analog. Comparison of ATP and ADP binding modes shows how
NTPDases engage the same catalytic site for hydrolysis of nucleoside
triphosphates and diphosphates. We find that this dual specificity is achieved
at the expense of base specificity. Structural and mutational studies indicate
that a conserved active-site water is replaced by the phosphate product
immediately after phosphoryl transfer. Partial base specificity for purines in
LpNTPDase1 is based on a different intersubunit base binding site for pyrimidine
bases. A comparison of the bacterial enzyme in six independent crystal forms
shows that NTPDases can undergo a domain closure motion of at least 17°.