Chymotrypsin is a digestive enzyme that breaks down the protein in the small intestine.
Precisely, it performs its function in the first part of the small intestine called the duodenum.
The digestive enzyme is a specialized protein that breaks down substances in the digestive tract by catalyzing initiating and accelerating biochemical reactions.
As the enzyme that breaks down protein, chymotrypsin belongs to a larger enzyme family called proteases.
Chymotrypsinogen is the zymogen name for chymotrypsin and trypsin is the active enzyme that cleaves it.
The function of Chymotrypsin
Chymotrypsin is a digestive enzyme synthesized in the pancreas and plays an essential role in the proteolysis or degradation of proteins and polypeptides.
As the component of pancreatic juice, chymotrypsin preferentially cleaves peptide amide bonds to help digest the protein in the duodenum.
The function of the chymotrypsin is to cleave the dietary protein and enters the digestive tract.
The Chymotrypsin is secreted from the pancreas and activated once it reaches the small intestine.