Enzyme

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  enzyme \en"zyme\ ([e^]n"z[imac]m), n. [Pref. en- (Gr. 'en in) +
     Gr. zy`mh leaven.] (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.
     [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     Note: The 1913 Webster defined an enzyme as:
           An unorganized or unformed ferment, in distinction from
           an organized or living ferment; a soluble, or chemical,
           ferment.
           [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

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

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  19 Moby Thesaurus words for "enzyme":
     beta-amylase, carbohydrase, coenzyme, deoxyribonuclease, digestant,
     digester, digestive, esterase, holoenzyme, insulinase, lipase,
     lipoxidase, pepsin, polynucleotidase, protease, proteolytic enzyme,
     ribonuclease, saccharase, saccharifying enzyme