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What are the differences between protease and peptidase?
Posted May 19, 2023

Answer

Protease and peptidase are two types of enzymes with a few significant differences between them. 

Protease

  • Protease is a type of hydrolytic enzyme that breaks down proteins by cleaving the peptide bond in protein molecules. They have an affinity for intact proteins. 
  • Proteases can be either endopeptidases or exopeptidases. Endopeptidases hydrolyze internal peptide bonds, resulting in oligopeptides. 
  • Common examples of endopeptidases include trypsin, papain, pepsin, elastase, and chymotrypsin.  

Peptidase

  • Peptidase is a type of protease enzyme that breaks down peptides into amino acids by cleaving the end terminals of the peptide chain. They have an affinity for small peptides. 
  • Peptidases are only exopeptidases. They hydrolyze peptide bonds at the ends of the peptide chain, resulting in a single amino acid or dipeptide. 
  • Common examples of peptidases include carboxypeptidase A and aminopeptidases.