Skip to main content
proteolysis

proteolysis

1 9.5
A process that breaks proteins into smaller pieces using enzymes
  • noun
  • /ˌproʊtiˈɑːlɪsɪs/
  • Specialized
: proteólisis
  • The process of proteolysis helps in the digestion of proteins into usable amino acids in the body.

Examples

  • Excretion of most of the tracer as peptide fragments is consistent with intralysosomal proteolysis of the enzyme in target tissues.

    Academic text (1996)
  • About 80% of the molecular weight of glycoproteins is made up of oligosaccharides, which surround the polypeptide core and protect much of it from proteolysis.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The increases in proteolysis through PIF administration were completely attenuated by HMB.

    Blog text (23)
  • Possible interaction of HMB with the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolysis-dependent pathway

    Blog text (23)
  • Lastly, several animal studies have found benefits from HMB, including decreased body fat, blood cholesterol, and muscle proteolysis.

    Blog text (23)
  • The role of HMB in attenuating the Ub-pathway in exercise-induced proteolysis remains to be directly investigated.

    Blog text (23)
  • Human plasma is a rich source of different proteinase inhibitors (antiproteases) whose function is to control proteolysis by affecting proteinase activity.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The anticoagulant property of APC lies in its capacity to inactivate the activated cofactors Va and VIIIa by limited proteolysis.

    Academic text (1993)
  • As a purported agent capable of strengthening sarcolemmal integrity and blunting proteolysis, HMB appears to exert its maximum effects during damaging and catabolic states induced by factors such as exercise, negative energy balance, and cancer.

    Blog text (23)
  • Oxidative changes to proteins lead to inhibition of enzymatic and binding activities, increased susceptibility to aggregation and proteolysis, increased or decreased uptake by cells, and altered immunogenicity.

    Academic text (2017)

Surface Forms

proteolysis singular
proteolyses plural

Morphology

proteolysis = protein + protein (semi-transparent) = proteo + lysis

Built from the root related to 'protein' plus the technical suffix '-lysis' meaning 'breakdown'; the suffix is specialized biomedical vocabulary and may not be obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Proteolysis comes from the parts protein and lysis, where lysis means 'breaking' or 'loosening'. So proteolysis is the process of breaking proteins into smaller parts, usually by enzymes.