identifier: METPO:1000527
label: enzyme
definition: A biological macromolecule (typically a protein, occasionally a
  catalytic RNA) that catalyses a specific biochemical reaction. This class is
  the material-entity sense of "enzyme" (the molecule itself), matching
  METPO:1000527's placement as a subclass of METPO:1000186 (material entity).
  Used as the range class for METPO enzyme-related OBJECT_PROPERTYs
  (shows_activity_of, enzyme_activity_analyzed, does_not_show_activity_of).
definition_source: DOI:10.1093/nar/gku1003
trait_category: UPPER
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: REVIEWED
parent_traits:
- METPO:1000186
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1093/nar/gku1003
  snippet: ENZYME nomenclature
  notes: ENZYME / EC nomenclature provides the canonical external vocabulary
    for enzymes named by the catalytic reaction they perform; supports
    'enzyme' as a recognised material-entity class.
- reference: PMID:21413255
  snippet: enzymes
  notes: Medical Microbiology chapter uses 'enzyme' in the material-entity
    sense (the biocatalyst protein) throughout its physiology and metabolism
    discussion; consistent with this record's scope.
curation_history:
- timestamp: '2026-05-16T09:30:00-07:00'
  curator: claude
  action: CREATED_UPPER_CLASS_RECORD
  changes: Created upper-ontology CLASS record for METPO:1000527 (enzyme) so
    that the range of un-deprecated activity-assay OBJECT_PROPERTYs
    (shows_activity_of, enzyme_activity_analyzed, and their negation
    companions) resolves to a curated TraitMech record.
  llm_assisted: true
- timestamp: '2026-05-16T09:45:00-07:00'
  curator: claude
  action: REMOVED_NON_EQUIVALENT_XREFS_AND_TIGHTENED_DEFINITION
  changes: 'Per Copilot review of PR #55, removed xrefs to GO:0003824
    (catalytic activity) and CHEBI:23357 (catalyst). Neither is an
    equivalence mapping: GO:0003824 is an activity/process class and
    CHEBI:23357 is a role, while this record represents the enzyme
    material entity. The definition was rewritten to be strictly about
    the enzyme molecule itself, removing the earlier wording that
    conflated material entity with catalytic activity. No clean
    cross-ontology equivalent for the material-entity "enzyme" class
    is available (CHEBI does not have a single enzyme class; PR is too
    broad as "protein"), so xrefs is left empty.'
  llm_assisted: true