An enzyme inducer is a type of
drug
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
that increases the
metabolic
Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...
activity of an enzyme either by
binding to the
enzyme and activating it, or by increasing the expression of the gene coding for the enzyme.
It is the opposite of an
enzyme repressor.
See also
*
Enzyme activator
*
Enzyme inhibitor
*
Regulation of gene expression
Regulation of gene expression, or gene regulation, includes a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products (protein or RNA). Sophisticated programs of gene expression are wide ...
References
External links
Hepatic enzyme inducersHepatic enzyme inhibitors
Medicinal chemistry
Enzymes
Metabolism
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