Hydrolysis, or peptide bond cleavage via reaction with water, is theorized to be a primary degradation mechanism, particularly in aqueous solutions. Acidic or basic conditions may accelerate this ...

Proteases are enzymes that catalyse hydrolysis of the peptide and isopeptide ... chain and endopeptidases attack an internal peptide bond, as in trypsin, chymotrypsin, pepsin, elastase and papain.

"A peptide bond is either cis or trans ... which are still susceptible to hydrolysis. "Collagen is all triple helices, from one end to the other," Raines says. "There's no weak link, and that's ...