What does enzyme mean?

Definitions for enzyme
ˈɛn zaɪmen·zyme

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word enzyme.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. enzymenoun

    any of several complex proteins that are produced by cells and act as catalysts in specific biochemical reactions

GCIDE

  1. enzymenoun

    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.

Wiktionary

  1. enzymenoun

    A globular protein that catalyses a biological chemical reaction.

  2. Etymology: From Enzym, created in 1878, by the German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne from ἐν and ζύμη.

Wikipedia

  1. Enzyme

    Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. Almost all metabolic processes in the cell need enzyme catalysis in order to occur at rates fast enough to sustain life.: 8.1  Metabolic pathways depend upon enzymes to catalyze individual steps. The study of enzymes is called enzymology and the field of pseudoenzyme analysis recognizes that during evolution, some enzymes have lost the ability to carry out biological catalysis, which is often reflected in their amino acid sequences and unusual 'pseudocatalytic' properties.Enzymes are known to catalyze more than 5,000 biochemical reaction types. Other biocatalysts are catalytic RNA molecules, called ribozymes. Enzymes' specificity comes from their unique three-dimensional structures. Like all catalysts, enzymes increase the reaction rate by lowering its activation energy. Some enzymes can make their conversion of substrate to product occur many millions of times faster. An extreme example is orotidine 5'-phosphate decarboxylase, which allows a reaction that would otherwise take millions of years to occur in milliseconds. Chemically, enzymes are like any catalyst and are not consumed in chemical reactions, nor do they alter the equilibrium of a reaction. Enzymes differ from most other catalysts by being much more specific. Enzyme activity can be affected by other molecules: inhibitors are molecules that decrease enzyme activity, and activators are molecules that increase activity. Many therapeutic drugs and poisons are enzyme inhibitors. An enzyme's activity decreases markedly outside its optimal temperature and pH, and many enzymes are (permanently) denatured when exposed to excessive heat, losing their structure and catalytic properties. Some enzymes are used commercially, for example, in the synthesis of antibiotics. Some household products use enzymes to speed up chemical reactions: enzymes in biological washing powders break down protein, starch or fat stains on clothes, and enzymes in meat tenderizer break down proteins into smaller molecules, making the meat easier to chew.

ChatGPT

  1. enzyme

    An enzyme is a type of protein that accelerates or facilitates biochemical reactions in living organisms. They act as a catalyst to convert substrates into different molecules known as products and are crucial for metabolic processes in the cell. Although they speed up reactions, enzymes remain unaltered during the process and can therefore be used repeatedly. Each enzyme is specific to certain reactions due to the unique shape of its active site.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Enzymenoun

    an unorganized or unformed ferment, in distinction from an organized or living ferment; a soluble, or chemical, ferment. Ptyalin, pepsin, diastase, and rennet are good examples of enzymes

  2. Etymology: [Pref. en- (Gr. 'en in) + Gr. zy`mh leaven.]

Wikidata

  1. Enzyme

    Enzymes are large biological molecules responsible for the thousands of chemical interconversions that sustain life. They are highly selective catalysts, greatly accelerating both the rate and specificity of metabolic reactions, from the digestion of food to the synthesis of DNA. Most enzymes are proteins, although some catalytic RNA molecules have been identified. Enzymes adopt a specific three-dimensional structure, and may employ organic and inorganic cofactors to assist in catalysis. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates sufficient for life. Since enzymes are selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell. Like all catalysts, enzymes work by lowering the activation energy for a reaction, thus dramatically increasing the rate of the reaction. As a result, products are formed faster and reactions reach their equilibrium state more rapidly. Most enzyme reaction rates are millions of times faster than those of comparable un-catalyzed reactions. As with all catalysts, enzymes are not consumed by the reactions they catalyze, nor do they alter the equilibrium of these reactions. However, enzymes do differ from most other catalysts in that they are highly specific for their substrates. Enzymes are known to catalyze about 4,000 biochemical reactions. A few RNA molecules called ribozymes also catalyze reactions, with an important example being some parts of the ribosome. Synthetic molecules called artificial enzymes also display enzyme-like catalysis.

Editors Contribution

  1. enzyme

    A type of protein.

    An enzyme is a type of protein and contributes to the change of food from one type to another within the human body.


    Submitted by MaryC on January 30, 2020  

Entomology

  1. Enzyme

    a ferment secreted by a cell or a gland.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'enzyme' in Nouns Frequency: #2661

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of enzyme in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of enzyme in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of enzyme in a Sentence

  1. Dean Ornish:

    We found that telomerase, the enzyme that repairs and lengthens telomeres, increased by 30% after just three months on the program, then we found that people who had been on the program for five years had telomeres that were about 10% longer, a sign that aging is being reversed on the cellular level.

  2. James Gardiner:

    People are likely to have different levels of this enzyme, so different things will work for different people, for some people, eating more starchy foods at the start of a meal might be a way to feel full more quickly by targeting this system, meaning they eat less overall.

  3. The Byers:

    It is only because of us seeing Eliza’s story and the O’Neills’ dedication to raising awareness that we got Will enrolled in this first-ever enzyme trial, it is still experimental; we don’t know if it will work. We’re just happy that he has a chance.

  4. Michael Dourson:

    Chlorypyrifos disrupts this enzyme in insects and in animals and in people.

  5. Katarzyna Sokl:

    Hydrogenase is an enzyme present in algae that is capable of reducing protons into hydrogen, during evolution, this process has been deactivated because it wasn’t necessary for survival but we successfully managed to bypass the inactivity to achieve the reaction we wanted — splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

enzyme#1#8501#10000

Translations for enzyme

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"enzyme." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/enzyme>.

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