prosthetic group definition of prosthetic group in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

prosthetic group, non-amino acid portions of certain protein protein, any of the group of highly complex organic compounds found in all living cells and comprising the most abundant class of all biological molecules. Protein comprises approximately 50% of cellular dry weight.
..... Click the link for more information. molecules. The key part of the prosthetic group may be either organic (such as a vitamin vitamin, group of organic substances that are required in the diet of humans and animals for normal growth, maintenance of life, and normal reproduction. Vitamins act as catalysts; very often either the vitamins themselves are coenzymes , or they form integral parts
..... Click the link for more information. ) or inorganic (such as a metal) and is usually required for biological activity, especially when the prosthetic group is complexed with an enzyme enzyme, biological catalyst . The term enzyme comes from zymosis, the Greek word for fermentation , a process accomplished by yeast cells and long known to the brewing industry, which occupied the attention of many 19th-century chemists.
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prosthetic group [präs′thed·ik ′grüp]

(biochemistry)

A characteristic nonamino acid substance that is strongly bound to a protein and necessary for the protein portion of an enzyme to function; often used to describe the function, as in hemeprotein for hemoglobin.