What enzymes are proteases?

Proteases are a type of enzyme that catalyze the hydrolysis of peptide bonds in proteins, resulting in the breakdown of proteins. Common examples of proteases include: 

Trypsin – Present in pancreatic juice, trypsin is involved in breaking down proteins and peptones to dipeptides. 

Carboxypeptidase – Similar to trypsin, carboxypeptidase is also found in pancreatic juice and involved in breaking down proteins and peptones to dipeptides. 

Dipeptidase – Dipeptidase is responsible for breaking down dipeptides to amino acids and is found in intestinal secretion. 

Rennin – Rennin is a type of protease that is secreted by chief cells that are found in the stomach. They assist in curdling milk protein. 

Elastase – Found in pancreatic juice, elastase helps in the digestion of elastin. 

Insulinase – Insulin plays a key role in degrading insulin and is found in the liver and kidney. 

Renin – Renin is responsible for producing angiotensin from angiotensinogen. It is secreted by specialized kidney cells known as juxtaglomerular cells.  

Hyaluronidase – Found in the acrosome of sperms, hyaluronidase plays a key role in fertilization where it helps the sperm to penetrate the ovum.