Activity and Stability
Pepsin is most active in acidic environments between 37°C and 42°C. Accordingly, its primary site of synthesis and activity is the stomach (pH 1.5 to 2). Pepsin exhibits maximal activity at pH 2.0 and is inactive at pH 6.5 and above, however pepsin is not fully denatured or irreversibly inactivated until pH 8.0. Therefore pepsin in solution of up to pH 8.0 can be reactivated upon re-acidification. The stability of pepsin at high pH has significant implications on disease attributed to laryngopharyngeal reflux. Pepsin remains in the larynx following a gastric reflux event. At the mean pH of the laryngopharynx (pH = 6.8) pepsin would be inactive but could be reactivated upon subsequent acid reflux events resulting in damage to local tissues.
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Famous quotes containing the words activity and, activity and/or stability:
“It would be one of the greatest triumphs of humanity, one of the most tangible liberations from the constraints of nature to which mankind is subject, if we could succeed in raising the responsible act of procreating children to the level of a deliberate and intentional activity and in freeing it from its entanglement with the necessary satisfaction of a natural need.”
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—James Madison (1751–1836)