What is the Difference Between Amylolytic Proteolytic and Lipolytic Enzymes

The key difference between amylolytic proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes is that amylolytic enzymes act on starch while proteolytic enzymes act on proteins, and lipolytic enzymes act on lipids.

Different types of biomolecules undergo breakdown to produce their simple forms, which could then be further absorbed or utilized for downstream processes. Enzymes play an important role in degrading these biomolecules in organisms.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Amylolytic Enzymes
3. What are Proteolytic Enzymes
4. What are Lipolytic Enzymes
5. Similarities – Amylolytic Proteolytic and Lipolytic Enzymes
6. Amylolytic vs Proteolytic vs Lipolytic Enzymes in Tabular Form
7. Summary – Amylolytic vs Proteolytic vs Lipolytic Enzymes

What are Amylolytic Enzymes?

Amylolytic enzymes are a group of enzymes that degrade starch through enzymatic hydrolysis. Amylase enzymes play an important role in amylolysis. Amylolytic enzymes may act randomly on starch to break the glyosidic linkages or will only act on non-reducing ends of starch to break down starch. Amylolytic enzymes will result in amyloses, amylopectins, maltoses, maltotrioses, and glucose residues upon complete amylolysis. Amylolytic enzymes are present in animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. There are three main types of amylolytic enzymes in the form of amylases: α – amylase, β – amylase, and γ – amylase. They primarily differ in the manner in which they hydrolyze the starch molecule.

Amylolytic enzymes play an important role in industries, especially in industries like the brewery, textile, and leather. These enzymes are commercially formulated using microbial fermentation technologies to fulfil the demand for amylolytic enzymes in the industry. Furthermore, amylolytic enzymes are also required in digestion. Thus, organisms that take in starch as a food component require amylolytic enzymes to ensure the digestion of starch.

What are Proteolytic Enzymes?

Proteolytic enzymes are the group of enzymes that take part in the breakdown of proteins. Proteins are macromolecules and form a polymer. It is made up of amino acids forming a 3D structure. When proteins are hydrolyzed, they convert to short polypeptides, dipeptides, and finally to amino acids. Proteolysis is facilitated by breaking the peptide bonds that are present between amino acids. Proteolytic enzymes are present in animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. Examples of proteolytic enzymes or proteases include trypsin, pepsin, chymotrypsin, and papain. It is required in the process of digestion in higher-level animals. Microorganisms secrete these enzymes to the exterior, where extracellular digestion takes place via the breakdown of proteins.

Figure 01: Mechanism of Proteolytic Enzymes

Proteolytic enzymes play an important role in various industries. They are important for the break down large proteins in industries such as leather, textile, food processing, pharmaceuticals, and bakery.

What are Lipolytic Enzymes?

Lipolytic enzymes are the enzymes that catalyze lipid hydrolysis. Lipids are biomolecules that are composed of fatty acids. Lipolytic enzymes break down lipids by hydrolysis to yield free fatty acids. The free fatty acids can be saturated fatty acids or unsaturated fatty acids. Lipolytic enzymes are also called lipases and play an important role in lipid digestion. Lipolytic enzymes are present in animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. However, different enzymes have the potential to hydrolyze different lipids based on the length of the fatty acid chains in which they can hydrolyze. Therefore, lipid hydrolysis by lipolytic enzymes is not uniformly facilitated in all species.

Figure 02: Lipase

Lipases also play an important role in the industry, apart from their role in digestion. Lipolytic enzymes are widely used in disinfection industries, pharmaceuticals, food processing, textile, and leather industries to digest lipids on a commercial scale. Most often, microbial fermentation technology is used to produce lipolytic enzymes required for the industry.

What are the Similarities Between Amylolytic Proteolytic and Lipolytic enzymes?

• They all are proteins.
• All three enzymes aid in the digestion of biomolecules in organisms.
• In microorganisms, all three enzymes facilitate extracellular digestion.
• The mechanism of all three enzymes is mediated through hydrolysis.
• They produce small and simple biomolecules from large complex biomolecules.
• All three enzymes play an important role in industries like textile, leather, and food.
• Moreover, at present, microbial fermentation is used to produce these enzymes in mass preparations.

What is the Difference Between Amylolytic Proteolytic and Lipolytic Enzymes?

Different biomolecules undergo hydrolysis under the influence of different enzymes. The key difference between amylolytic proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes is the substrate that they use. Starch is broken down by amylolytic enzymes while proteins are broken down by proteolytic enzymes, and lipids are broken down by lipolytic enzymes. In addition, each enzyme will recognize different types of bonds in order to be cleaved upon hydrolysis. Amylolytic enzymes cleave starch at glyosidic bonds, while proteolytic enzymes cleave at peptide bonds, and lipolytic enzymes cleave at Hydrogen bonds.

The below infographic presents the differences between amylolytic proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Amylolytic Proteolytic vs Lipolytic Enzymes

Enzymes play a key role in the breakdown of biomolecules. This concept of breaking down biomolecules is utilized in a physiological context during the digestion process. In addition, these enzymes also play a role in industries that require the breakdown of complex, large biomolecules. Amylolytic enzymes or amylases are the enzymes that break down starch. Proteolytic enzymes break down polymeric proteins into amino acids or peptides. Lipolytic enzymes break down lipids producing fatty acids. These enzymes are found in all living beings. However, based on evolution, the size and the nature of the protein may vary. So, this summarizes the difference between amylolytic proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes.

Reference:

1. Lass, Achim, et al. “Lipolysis – a Highly Regulated Multi-Enzyme Complex Mediates the Catabolism of Cellular Fat Stores.” Progress in Lipid Research, Pergamon.
2. Mótyán, János András, et al. “Research Applications of Proteolytic Enzymes in Molecular Biology.” Biomolecules, MDPI.
3. Wong, Dominic W. S. “Amylolytic Enzymes.” Springer.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Protease mechanisms” By Thomas Shafee – Thomas, Shafee, (2014). “Evolvability of a viral protease: experimental evolution of catalysis, robustness and specificity”. PhD Thesis. University of Cambridge. (CC BY 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia

2. “Horse Pancreatic Lipase” By Bourne, Y., Martinez, C., Kerfelec, B., Lombardo, D., Chapus, C., Cambillau, C. – Image from the RCSB PDB (www.rcsb.org) of PDB ID 1HPL (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia

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