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protease

American  
[proh-tee-ays, -ayz] / ˈproʊ tiˌeɪs, -ˌeɪz /

noun

Biochemistry.
  1. any of a group of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolytic degradation of proteins or polypeptides to smaller amino acid polymers.


protease British  
/ ˈprəʊtɪˌeɪs /

noun

  1. any enzyme involved in proteolysis

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

protease Scientific  
/ prō′tē-ās′ /
  1. Any of various enzymes that bring about the breakdown of proteins into peptides or amino acids by hydrolysis. Pepsin is an example of a protease.


Etymology

Origin of protease

First recorded in 1900–05; prote(in) + -ase


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The mirror protease only works on mirror peptides, which means, by the law of mirror-image symmetry that applies to chiral molecules, that regular proteases would likewise be unable to cut down mirror-image peptides.

From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2025

Their report, which will appear in Science, shows that an alternative medication, a viral papain-like protease inhibitor, inhibits disease progression in animals, a necessary step before human drug trials.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 28, 2024

The cleavage of SREBP-1c occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum, with the rhomboid protease RHBDL4, located in the ER membrane, identified as a new cleavage enzyme for SREBP-1c.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 13, 2024

It is possible to detect nanomolar protease concentrations based on the color change in the test solution.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 13, 2023

The best-known example of this type of enzymes is the protease of yeast; but similar ones may be found in germinating seeds.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher

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