Definition of Pepsin
1. Noun. An enzyme produced in the stomach that splits proteins into peptones.
Definition of Pepsin
1. n. An unorganized proteolytic ferment or enzyme contained in the secretory glands of the stomach. In the gastric juice it is united with dilute hydrochloric acid (0.2 per cent, approximately) and the two together constitute the active portion of the digestive fluid. It is the active agent in the gastric juice of all animals.
Definition of Pepsin
1. a digestive enzyme of the stomach [n -S]
Medical Definition of Pepsin
1.
Acid protease from stomach of vertebrates. Cleaves preferentially between two hydrophobic amino acids (e.g. F L, F Y) and will attack most proteins except protamines, keratin and highly glycosylated proteins. A single chain phosphoprotein (327 amino acids, 34.5 kD) released from the enzymatically inactive zymogen, pepsinogen, by autocatalysis at acid pH in the presence of HCl. One of the peptides cleaved off in this process is a pepsin inhibitor and has to be further degraded to allow the pepsin to have full activity.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Pepsin
Other Resources:
