Aminase

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An enzyme that facilitates the transfer of an amino group from one molecule to another
2. A catalytic protein that participates in the conversion of amino acids by transferring amino groups
3. A biochemical compound that mediates the synthesis or breakdown of amino acids through the transfer of amine functionalities

Etymology: "Aminase" is a straightforward technical coinage: it combines "amine," a chemical compound built around a nitrogen atom bonded to hydrogen or carbon groups, with the suffix "-ase," which chemists attach to the names of enzymes. The "-ase" ending became the standard marker for enzymes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, following the pattern of older names such as "diastase," so a reader can tell from the ending alone that the word names a biological catalyst rather than a simple chemical. The name describes what the enzyme does. Its work is moving amino groups, the nitrogen-containing portions of amino acids, from one molecule to another, which is why "amine" is the root. Enzymes of this kind are central to how cells break down and rebuild amino acids, so the name is a plain functional description rather than a metaphor or a historical story.

Synonyms: aminohydrolase, enzyme, deaminase