pepsin
Sign in to savePepsin is an endopeptidase that breaks down proteins into smaller peptides and amino acids. It is one of the main digestive enzymes in the digestive systems of humans and many other animals, where it helps digest the proteins in food. Pepsin is an aspartic protease, using a catalytic aspartate in its active site.
AI overview
Pepsin is an enzyme in your digestive system that breaks down the proteins in food into smaller pieces that your body can absorb and use. It works by cutting protein molecules apart in a specific way, using a special aspartate molecule at its core to do the job.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Enzyme.Name
- pepsin C (gastricsin)
- Enzyme.EC_number
- 3.4.23.3
- Enzyme.CAS_number
- 9012-71-9
- Enzyme.GO_code
- 0004194
- Enzyme.image
- 1PSO.png
- Enzyme.caption
- Pepsin in complex with pepstatin.
- Enzyme.name
- Pepsin
- Protein.Name
- progastricsin(pepsinogen C)
- Protein.HGNCid
- 8890
- Protein.Symbol
- PGC
- Protein.EntrezGene
- 5225
- Protein.OMIM
- 169740
- Protein.RefSeq
Article
9 sectionsContents
- History
- Precursor
- Activity and stability
- In laryngopharyngeal reflux
- Inhibitors
- Applications
- Genes
- References
- External links
Pepsin is an endopeptidase that breaks down proteins into smaller peptides and amino acids. It is one of the main digestive enzymes in the digestive systems of humans and many other animals, where it helps digest the proteins in food. Pepsin is an aspartic protease, using a catalytic aspartate in its active site.
It is one of three principal endopeptidases (enzymes cutting proteins in the middle) in the human digestive system, the other two being chymotrypsin and trypsin. There are also exopeptidases which remove individual amino acids at both ends of proteins (carboxypeptidases produced by the pancreas and aminopeptidases secreted by the small intestine). During the process of digestion, these enzymes, each of which is specialized in severing links between particular types of amino acids, collaborate to break down dietary proteins into their components, i.e., peptides and amino acids, which can be readily absorbed by the small intestine. The cleavage specificity of pepsin is broad, but some amino acids like tyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan increase the probability of cleavage.