Potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor (PCI) is a naturally occurring protease inhibitor peptide in potatoes that can form complexes with several metallo-carboxypeptidases, inhibiting them in a strong competitive way with a Ki in the nanomolar range.a
PCI consists of 39 amino acids (MW 4295 Da) forming a 27-residue globular core stabilized by three disulfide bridges and a C-terminal tail with residues 35–39. PCI contains a small cysteine-rich module, called a T-knot scaffold, that is shared by several different protein families, including the EGF family.a