Zymogen

3 definitions found

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

  proenzyme \pro"en*zyme\, n. [.] (Bioch.)
     Any one of a class of proteins that are converted, in the
     normal course of cellular metabolism, into one or more active
     enzymes; also called {zymogen}. The conversion usually is due
     to a specific cleavage of a peptide bond by another enzyme,
     or may be due to acid.


     [PJC]

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

  Zymogen \Zym"o*gen\, n. [Zyme + -gen.] (Physiol. Chem.)
     A mother substance, or antecedent, of an enzyme or chemical
     ferment; -- applied to such substances as, not being
     themselves actual ferments, may by internal changes give rise
     to a ferment.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           The pancreas contains but little ready-made ferment,
           though there is present in it a body, zymogen, which
           gives birth to the ferment.              --Foster.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  zymogen
       n : any of a group of compounds that are inactive precursors of
           enzymes and require some change (such as the hydrolysis
           of a fragment that masks an active enzyme) to become
           active [syn: {proenzyme}]