Format of Number
Every enzyme code consists of the letters "EC" followed by four numbers separated by periods. Those numbers represent a progressively finer classification of the enzyme.
For example, the tripeptide aminopeptidases have the code "EC 3.4.11.4", whose components indicate the following groups of enzymes:
- EC 3 enzymes are hydrolases (enzymes that use water to break up some other molecule)
- EC 3.4 are hydrolases that act on peptide bonds
- EC 3.4.11 are those hydrolases that cleave off the amino-terminal amino acid from a polypeptide
- EC 3.4.11.4 are those that cleave off the amino-terminal end from a tripeptide
Read more about this topic: Enzyme Commission Number
Famous quotes containing the word number:
“The quality of moral behaviour varies in inverse ratio to the number of human beings involved.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)