• Cleavage of proteins into smaller peptides or amino acids either by PROTEASES or non-enzymatically (e.g., Hydrolysis). It does not include Protein Processing, Post-Translational.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• Proteolysis typically involves hydrolysis of specific peptide bond(s) with formation of smaller polypeptides in a target protein during maturation or modification of functional activity. The process may be catalyzed by proteolytic enzymes, by acids, or by bases.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Splitting of proteins by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds with formation of smaller polypeptides; the process may be catalyzed by proteolytic enzymes, by acids, or by bases.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006
• The hydrolysis of proteins into smaller polypeptides and/or amino acids by cleavage of their peptide bonds.
  Gene Ontology Dictionary
  Gene Ontology Consortium, 2021
• (protein cleavage) Protein Cleavage involves hydrolysis by proteolytic enzymes of specific peptide bond(s), forming smaller polypeptides in the target protein during maturation or modification of functional activity.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Proteolysis, Process in which a protein is broken down partially, into peptides, or completely, into amino acids, by proteolytic enzymes, present in bacteria and in plants but most abundant in animals. Proteins in food are attacked in the stomach by pepsin and in the small intestine mainly by...
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025