Digestive enzyme
Digestive enzymes are a group of enzymes that break down polymeric macromolecules into their smaller building blocks, in order to facilitate their absorption by the body. Digestive enzymes are found in the digestive tracts of animals (including humans) and in the traps of carnivorous plants, where they aid in the digestion of food, as well as inside cells, especially in their lysosomes, where they function to maintain cellular survival. Digestive enzymes of diverse specificities are found in the saliva secreted by the salivary glands, in the secretions of cells lining
Proteinase K
Activated by calcium, the enzyme digests proteins preferentially after hydrophobic amino acids (aliphatic, aromatic and other hydrophobic amino acids). Although calcium ions do not affect the enzyme activity, they do contribute to its stability.
Proteins will be completely digested if the incubation time is long and the protease concentration high enough. Upon removal of the calcium ions, the stability of the enzyme is reduced, but the proteolytic activity remains. Proteinase K has two binding sites for Ca, which are located close to the active center, but are not directly involved in the catalytic mechanism. The residual activity is sufficient to digest proteins, which usually contaminate nucleic acid preparations. Therefore, the digestion with Proteinase K for the purification of nucleic acids is usually performed in the presence of EDTA (inhibition of calcium-dependent enzymes such as nucleases).