Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of numerous proteins or conjugated proteins produced by living organisms and functioning as biochemical catalysts.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Physiol. Chem.) A protein produced by a living organism, capable of catalyzing a chemical reaction. Almost all processes in living organisms require some form of enzyme to cause the reactions to occur at a rate sufficient to support life. There are a very wide variety of enzymes, each specifically catalyzing a different chemical reaction, the sum of which cause the bulk of the physiological changes observed as life processes. Enzymes, like most proteins, are synthesized by the protein-synthetic mechanism of the living cell, at special sites on ribosomes, using the genetic information in messenger RNA transcribed from the genetic instructions stored as nuleotide sequences in the DNA (or in some viruses, the RNA) of the genome. Some examples of enzymes are: pepsin, diastase, rennet, DNA polymerase, invertase, glucose oxidase, protease, and ribonuclease. There are many other types of enzyme.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun biochemistry A globular
protein thatcatalyses abiological chemical reaction .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of several complex proteins that are produced by cells and act as catalysts in specific biochemical reactions
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I think residual bromelain enzyme from the piña breaks down the gluten in the wheat flour.
Tepache 2006
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And scientists coined the word enzyme, denoting the remarkable protein molecules that living cells use to transform other molecules, from the Greek words for “in yeast,” where sugar is transformed into alcohol.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
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And scientists coined the word enzyme, denoting the remarkable protein molecules that living cells use to transform other molecules, from the Greek words for “in yeast,” where sugar is transformed into alcohol.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
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With the introduction of thermodynamics, advances in enzyme chemistry and the discovery of phosphorylated compounds in the 1920s, the stage was set for a sudden shift in how scientists understood intermediate metabolism.
Otto Meyerhof and the Physiology Institute: the Birth of Modern Biochemistry 2010
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If that enzyme is blocked, levels of 17 hydroxyprogesterone build up, and then steroid production tends to preferentially head down the other path towards testosterone.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia - Something to Consider aka TBTAM 2009
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This neurotoxic action kills bugs by reducing the level of a certain enzyme (acetylcholinesterase) that clears an important neurotransmitter chemical (acetylcholine) out of the junction between nerve cells.
Dr. Walter Crinnion: Could Organic Produce Be the New Ritalin? Dr. Walter Crinnion 2010
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This enzyme is responsible for the majority of starch digestion.
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This enzyme is part of the adrenal production pathway for cortisol, and catalyzes the conversion of 17-hydroxyprogesterone to 11-deoxycortisol.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia - Something to Consider aka TBTAM 2009
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This enzyme is responsible for the majority of starch digestion.
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Long term enzyme-replacement therapy for people with Pompe disease, an inherited muscle disorder affecting fewer than 10,000 people world-wide. —
Push to Cure Rare Diseases Amy Dockser Marcus 2010
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