The enzymes involved in hydrolysis reactions are called hydrolytic enzymes. These enzymes use water to catalyze the hydrolysis of various bonds such as glycosidic, peptide, carbon-carbon, P-N, ether, ester, and carbon-halide bonds.
Some of the most common hydrolytic enzymes include:
Lipase: Lipase is involved in catalyzing the hydrolysis of fats. Lysosomal lipase digests cholesterol and lipids to free fatty acids. Pancreatic lipase hydrolyzes triglycerides to monoglycerides and two fatty acids.
Amylase: Amylase is a type of glycoside hydrolases. It plays a role in catalyzing the hydrolysis of starch into sugars, disaccharides, and trisaccharides. Salivary amylase converts starch to maltose, and starch to disaccharides.
Protease: Protease catalyzes the breakdown of proteins into single amino acids and smaller peptides. Pepsin, which is a protease, converts proteins to proteoses and peptones. Trypsin and chymotrypsin convert partially hydrolyzed proteins to dipeptides.
Phosphatase: Phosphatase catalyzes the elimination of phosphate moiety from the substrate. Nucleotidase, which is a phosphotase, catalyzes the hydrolysis of nucleotides to nucleosides.