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peptide
peptide organic compound composed of amino acids linked together chemically by peptide bonds. The peptide bond always involves a single covalent link between the α-carboxyl (oxygen-bearing carbon) of one amino acid and the amino nitrogen of a second amino acid. In the formation of a peptide...
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chymotrypsin
chymotrypsin , proteolytic, or protein-digesting, enzyme active in the mammalian intestinal tract. It catalyzes the hydrolysis of proteins , degrading them into smaller molecules called peptides . Peptides are further split into free amino acids . Chymotrypsin is produced in the pancreas as t...
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proline
proline , organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l -stereoisomer appears in mammalian protein. It is not essential to the human diet, since it can be synthesized in the body from glutamic acid . The amino group through which it can link to other...
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trypsin
trypsin enzyme that acts to degrade protein ; it is often referred to as a proteolytic enzyme, or proteinase. Trypsin is one of the three principal digestive proteinases, the other two being pepsin and chymotrypsin . In the digestive process, trypsin acts with the other proteinases to break d...
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glucagon
glucagon , hormone secreted by the α cells of the islets of Langerhans, specific groups of cells in the pancreas . It tends to counteract the action of insulin , i.e., it raises the concentration of glucose in the blood. Glucagon was first purified and crystallized in 1955; the amino acid ...
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mushroom poisoning
mushroom poisoning fungal poisoning caused by ingestion of certain mushrooms (fungal organisms), most commonly Amanita phalloides and Amanita muscaria and related species. Symptoms, caused by toxic peptides, may include severe abdominal pain, vomiting, cold sweat, diarrhea, and excessive thirst...
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aldosterone
aldosterone , steroid secreted by the cortex of the adrenal gland. It is the most potent hormone regulating the body's electrolyte balance. Aldosterone acts directly on the kidney to decrease the rate of sodium-ion excretion (with accompanying retention of water), and to increase the rate of potas...
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asparagine
asparagine , organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l -stereoisomer participates in the biosynthesis of mammalian proteins. Its structure is identical to that of the amino acid aspartic acid , except that the latter compound's acidic side-chain ...
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oxytocin
oxytocin , hormone released from the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland that facilitates uterine contractions and the milk-ejection reflex. The structure of oxytocin, a cyclic peptide consisting of nine amino acids, was determined in 1953 and in the same year it was synthesized in the labor...
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cysteine
cysteine , organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins . Only the l -stereoisomer participates in the biosynthesis of mammalian protein. It is particularly abundant in the proteins of hair, hooves, and the keratin of the skin. Cysteine's importance is relate...
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