zymo-, zym-, -zyme, -zymic +

1. Unleavened bread.
2. Unleavened bread used in a Eucharistic service.

Unleavened; unfermented.

A substance in various tissues, capable of activating thrombin, the fibrin ferment.

Relating to, caused by, or of the nature of an enzyme.

1. A protein molecule produced by living organisms that catalyses chemical reactions of other substances without itself being destroyed or altered upon completion of the reactions.
2. A protein (or protein-based molecule) that speeds up a chemical reaction in a living organism. An enzyme acts as catalyst for specific chemical reactions, converting a specific set of reactants (called substrates) into specific products. Without enzymes, life as we know it would not exist.
3. Any of numerous proteins or conjugated proteins produced by living organisms and functioning as biochemical catalysts.

Enzymes are classified according to the recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry. Each enzyme is assigned a recommended name and an Enzyme Commission (EC) number.

They are divided into six main groups, oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, and ligases.

Enzymes are nonetheless subject to error. In 1902 Sir Archibald Garrod was the first to attribute a disease to an enzyme defect, to what Garrod called an "inborn error of metabolism". Today, newborns are routinely screened for certain enzyme defects; such as, PKU (phenylketonuria) and galactosemia, an error in the handling (metabolism) of the sugar galactose.

Phenylketonuria (commonly known as PKU) is an inherited disorder that increases the amount of the amino acid phenylalanine to harmful levels in the blood. (Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.) If PKU is not treated, excess phenylalanine can cause mental retardation and other serious health problems.

1. The branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and actions of enzymes.
2. The study of enzymes and enzymatic actions.
3. The branch of science that deals with the biochemical nature and activity of enzymes.

1. The decomposition of a chemical compound catalyzed by the presence of an enzyme.
2. The splitting or cleavage of a substance into smaller parts by means of enzymatic action.

Any disturbance of enzyme function. An enzyme is a protein molecule that catalyzes chemical reactions of other substances without itself being destroyed or altered upon completion of the reactions.

A ferment extracted from madder root, possessing the power of inducing alcoholic fermentation in solutions of sugar.

A ferment extracted from madder root, possessing the power of inducing alcoholic fermentation in solutions of sugar.

A soluble ferment occurring in the animal body, to the presence of which many normal decompositions and synthetical processes are supposed to be due.

1. An enzyme of the hydrolase class that catalyzes the hydrolysis of specific glycosidic linkages in peptidoglycans and in chitin. The enzyme occurs in saliva, tears, egg white, and many animal fluids and catalyzes the breakdown of some bacterial cell walls.
2. An enzyme occurring naturally in egg white, human tears, saliva, and other body fluids, capable of destroying the cell walls of certain bacteria and thereby acting as a mild antiseptic.
3. An enzyme that is destructive of bacteria and functions as an antiseptic, found in tears, leukocytes, mucus, egg albumin, and in certain plants.

A microorganism which is supposed to act like a ferment in causing or propagating certain infectious or contagious diseases; a pathogenic bacterial organism.

The inactive form of an enzyme found within a cell, which, upon leaving the cell, is converted into the active form; such as, pepsinogen, which is converted to pepsin.

A type of serous cell resembling pancreatic acinous cells and gastric chief cells, found in the parotid gland of most mammals and the submandibular and sublingual glands of humans.