'Zymogen' definitions:
Definition of 'zymogen'
From: WordNet
noun
Any of a group of compounds that are inactive precursors of enzymes and require some change (such as the hydrolysis of a fragment that masks an active enzyme) to become active [syn: proenzyme, zymogen]
Definition of 'Zymogen'
From: GCIDE
- Zymogen \Zym"o*gen\, n. [Zyme + -gen.] (Physiol. Chem.) A mother substance, or antecedent, of an enzyme or chemical ferment; -- applied to such substances as, not being themselves actual ferments, may by internal changes give rise to a ferment. [1913 Webster]
- The pancreas contains but little ready-made ferment, though there is present in it a body, zymogen, which gives birth to the ferment. --Foster. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'zymogen'
From: GCIDE
- proenzyme \pro"en*zyme\, n. [.] (Bioch.) Any one of a class of proteins that are converted, in the normal course of cellular metabolism, into one or more active enzymes; also called zymogen. The conversion usually is due to a specific cleavage of a peptide bond by another enzyme, or may be due to acid. [PJC]