An enzyme that cuts amino acids one at a time from the ends of a protein chain, working from the outside inward.
From Greek 'exo-' (outside) and 'peptidase' (an enzyme that breaks peptide bonds). Biochemists named this enzyme based on where it attacks proteins—specifically at the external ends rather than in the middle.
Your digestive system uses exopeptidases like carboxypeptidase to finish breaking down proteins by nibbling away the end amino acids, kind of like how you might eat a stick of celery by peeling off individual fibers from the outside in.
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