Limited proteolysis is a highly specific irreversible process, which can serve to initiate physiological function by con-verting a precursor protein into a biologically active form. When the activating enzyme and the activated enzyme coincide, the process is an autocatalytic zymogen activation (. reactions inwhich the zymogens serves as a substrate for the corresponding active enzyme). The activity of proteases is frequently regulated by the binding of specific protease inhibitors.
