proteolytic enzyme
1
4.4
- noun
- /ˌproʊtiəˈlɪtɪk ˈɛnzaɪm/
- Specialized
:
enzima proteolítica
- Proteolytic enzymes play a crucial role in cellular processes by breaking down proteins and recycling their components.
- the main proteolytic enzyme
- doses of proteolytic enzymes
- proteolytic enzyme combination
Examples
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When we eat food, proteolytic enzymes in our digestive system help break down proteins into amino acids.
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During the digestion process, proteolytic enzymes break down complex proteins into smaller peptides for absorption.
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Endosomal lysosomes contain a wide array of proteolytic enzymes and are sites for cellular protein breakdown.
Academic text (1992) -
The proteins are then digested to peptides with trypsin or other proteolytic enzymes and analyzed using standard proteomics.
Academic text (2016)
Synonyms
7
7.7
An enzyme that breaks proteins into smaller pieces
1
9.9
A cell machine that breaks down damaged or unneeded proteins into small parts
1
7.2
A substance in living things that breaks proteins into smaller parts
1
9.3
An enzyme in animal cells that breaks down proteins inside small parts of the cell that digest things
1
4.6
A stomach substance that breaks proteins into smaller pieces
An enzyme that breaks proteins into smaller pieces called peptides and amino acids
An enzyme that removes amino acids from the end of a protein chain
A substance that helps break down proteins by removing amino acids from their start
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'proteolytic' means relating to the enzymatic breakdown of proteins and 'enzyme' is a catalytic protein, so a learner who knows both constituents can readily infer an enzyme that breaks down proteins into smaller peptides/amino acids. Although technical, the morphological pieces ('proteo-' + '-lytic') reflect a clear productive pattern found across languages, making the meaning predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Proteolytic enzyme comes from two parts: proteo- meaning 'protein' and -lytic meaning 'to break', so imagine tiny scissors cutting long protein chains. That's why it means 'an enzyme that breaks proteins into smaller pieces'.