zymogen

Plural: zymogens

Noun

• An inactive precursor that can be converted into an active enzyme.
• any of a group of compounds that are inactive precursors of enzymes and require some change (such as the hydrolysis of a fragment that masks an active enzyme) to become active
• A proenzyme, or enzyme precursor, which requires a biochemical change (i.e. hydrolysis) to become an active form of the enzyme.

Examples

• The ZYMOGEN tiles on his rack were patiently waiting to be activated into a powerful Scrabble word.

Synonyms

proenzyme