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lipase

(Encyclopedia)lipase līˈpās [key], any enzyme capable of degrading lipid molecules. The bulk of dietary lipids are a class called triacylglycerols and are attacked by lipases to yield simple fatty acids and glyc...

chymotrypsin

(Encyclopedia)chymotrypsin kīˌmōtrĭpˈsĭn [key], proteolytic, or protein-digesting, enzyme active in the mammalian intestinal tract. It catalyzes the hydrolysis of proteins, degrading them into smaller molecul...

chyme

(Encyclopedia)chyme kīm [key], semiliquid substance found in the stomach and resulting from the partial digestion of food by the salivary enzyme amylase, the gastric enzyme pepsin, and hydrochloric acid. Secretion...

ACE inhibitor

(Encyclopedia)ACE inhibitor ănˌjēōtĕnˈsĭn [key], drug used to reduce elevated blood pressure (see hypertension), to treat congestive heart failure, and to alleviate strain on hea...

amylase

(Encyclopedia)amylase ămˈəlāsˌ [key], enzyme having physiological, commercial, and historical significance, also called diastase. It is found in both plants and animals. Amylase was purified (1835) from malt b...

Gaucher's disease

(Encyclopedia)Gaucher's disease gōshāzˈ [key], rare genetic disease involving a deficiency of an enzyme, glucocerebrosidase, which normally breaks down certain body glycolipids (i.e., lipids (fats) that have a s...

Anfinsen, Christian Boehmer

(Encyclopedia)Anfinsen, Christian Boehmer, 1916–95, American biochemist, b. Monessen, Pa., Ph.D. Harvard Medical School, 1943. He spent the early years of his career in brief research and fellowship positions at ...

papaya

(Encyclopedia)papaya pəpīˈə [key], soft-stemmed tree (Carica papaya) of tropical America resembling a palm with a crown of palmately lobed leaves. It is cultivated for its melonlike yellow fruits eaten raw or c...

Walker, Sir John Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Sir John Ernest, 1941–, English biochemist, Ph.D. Oxford, 1969. He has been a researcher at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge since 1974. In 1997 Walk...

protease inhibitor

(Encyclopedia)protease inhibitor prōˈtē-āsˌ [key], any of a class of drugs that interfere with replication of the AIDS virus (HIV), by blocking an enzyme (protease) necessary in the late stages of its reproduc...