Protease inhibitor (biology)

In biology and biochemistry, protease inhibitors, or antiproteases,[1] are molecules that inhibit the function of proteases (enzymes that aid the breakdown of proteins). Many naturally occurring protease inhibitors are proteins.[2]

In medicine, protease inhibitor is often used interchangeably with alpha 1-antitrypsin (A1AT, which is abbreviated PI for this reason).[3] A1AT is indeed the protease inhibitor most often involved in disease, namely in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

  1. ^ "antiprotease". The Free Dictionary.
  2. ^ Roy, Mrinalini; Rawat, Aadish; Kaushik, Sanket; Jyoti, Anupam; Srivastava, Vijay Kumar (2022-08-01). "Endogenous cysteine protease inhibitors in upmost pathogenic parasitic protozoa". Microbiological Research. 261: 127061. doi:10.1016/j.micres.2022.127061. ISSN 0944-5013. PMID 35605309. S2CID 248741177.
  3. ^ OMIM - PROTEASE INHIBITOR 1; PI