A biologically inactive substance which is metabolized into an enzyme.
〔生化〕酶原，前酶
Example sentencesExamples
Protein digestion begins in the stomach, where a proenzyme called pepsinogen is secreted, autocatalytically converted to Pepsin A, and used for the first step of proteolysis.
All caspases, which are initially inactive proenzymes, share the same processing scheme to achieve mature forms after cleavage at specific Asp sites.
Covalent modification of pre-existing pools of inactive proenzymes produces active enzymes.
These death proteases are part of a proteolytic cascade activating proenzymes into active proteases.
In the case of the serine proteases, they are synthesized as proenzymes, larger molecules that require modification before they become active.
Definition of proenzyme in US English:
proenzyme
nounprōˈenˌzīm
Biochemistry
A biologically inactive substance which is metabolized into an enzyme.
〔生化〕酶原，前酶
Example sentencesExamples
These death proteases are part of a proteolytic cascade activating proenzymes into active proteases.
Protein digestion begins in the stomach, where a proenzyme called pepsinogen is secreted, autocatalytically converted to Pepsin A, and used for the first step of proteolysis.
In the case of the serine proteases, they are synthesized as proenzymes, larger molecules that require modification before they become active.
All caspases, which are initially inactive proenzymes, share the same processing scheme to achieve mature forms after cleavage at specific Asp sites.
Covalent modification of pre-existing pools of inactive proenzymes produces active enzymes.