proteolytic enzyme

proteolytic enzyme, any of a group of enzymes that break the long chainlike molecules of proteins into shorter fragments (peptides) and eventually into their components, amino acids. Proteolytic enzymes are present in bacteria, archaea, certain types of algae, some viruses, and plants; they are most abundant, however, in animals.

There are different types of proteolytic enzymes, which are classified according to sites at which they catalyze the cleavage of proteins. The two major groups are the exopeptidases, which target the terminal ends of proteins, and the endopeptidases, which target sites within proteins. Endopeptidases employ various catalytic mechanisms; within this group are the aspartic endopeptidases, cysteine endopeptidases, glutamic endopeptidases, metalloendopeptidases, serine endopeptidases, and threonine endopeptidases. The term oligopeptidase is reserved for those enzymes that act specifically on peptides.

Among the best-known proteolytic enzymes are those that reside in the digestive tract. In the stomach, protein materials are attacked initially by a gastric endopeptidase known as pepsin. When the protein material is passed to the small intestine, proteins, which are only partially digested in the stomach, are further attacked by proteolytic enzymes secreted by the pancreas. These enzymes are liberated in the small intestine from inactive precursors produced by the acinar cells in the pancreas. The precursors are called trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, proelastase, and procarboxypeptidase. Trypsinogen is transformed to an endopeptidase called trypsin by an enzyme (enterokinase) secreted from the walls of the small intestine. Trypsin then activates the precursors of chymotrypsin, elastase, and carboxypeptidase. When the pancreatic enzymes become activated in the intestine, they convert proteins into free amino acids, which are easily absorbed by the cells of the intestinal wall. The pancreas also produces a protein called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor, which binds to trypsin and blocks its activity. It is thought that in this manner the pancreas protects itself from autodigestion.