An enzyme that breaks apart proteins by cutting bonds within their middle sections, rather than at the ends.
From Greek 'endo-' (within) + 'peptide' (from Greek 'peptos,' meaning digested) + '-ase' (enzyme suffix). The term describes where the enzyme cuts: inside the chain rather than at the terminus.
Endopeptidases are like molecular scissors that work from the inside out—your stomach uses pepsin (an endopeptidase) to efficiently break down protein by cutting it into pieces from within, which is why digestion works so fast!
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