text: The acidic triad member forms a hydrogen bond with the basic residue. This aligns the basic residue by restricting its side-chain rotation, and polarises it by stabilising its positive charge. Two amino acids have acidic side chains at physiological pH (aspartate or glutamate) and so are the most commonly used for this triad member. Cytomegalovirus protease uses a pair of histidines, one as the base, as usual, and one as the acid. The second histidine is not as effective an acid as the more common aspartate or glutamate, leading to a lower catalytic efficiency. In some enzymes, the acid member of the triad is less necessary and some act only as a dyad. For example, papain uses asparagine as its third triad member which orients the histidine base but does not act as an acid. Similarly, hepatitis A virus protease contains an ordered water in the position where an acid residue should be.