What Are the Proteases?

A protease is an enzyme that catalyzes proteolysis, the breakdown of proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids. They do this by cleaving the peptide bonds within proteins by hydrolysis, a reaction where water breaks bonds.

What are the 3 proteases?

Proteases mechanism of action classifies them as either serine, cysteine or threonine proteases (amino-terminal nucleophile hydrolases), or as aspartic, metallo and glutamic proteases (with glutamic proteases being the only subtype not found in mammals so far).

What are the types of proteases?

Based on the mechanism of catalysis, proteases are classified into six distinct classes, aspartic, glutamic, and metalloproteases, cysteine, serine, and threonine proteases, although glutamic proteases have not been found in mammals so far.