protease

[ proh-tee-eys, -eyz ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Biochemistry.

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

protease

/ ˈprəʊtɪˌeɪs /

protease

/ prō′tē-ās′ /

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.

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

C20: from protein + -ase

For HIV, though, real therapy began only 18 years ago with the introduction of a class of drugs, the protease inhibitors.

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

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