Thus, activation is conceptually the opposite of protection, in which the resulting state exhibits a decreased propensity to undergo a certain reaction.
Bioactivation may also refer to the process where inactive prodrugs are converted into their active metabolites, or the toxication of protoxins into actual toxins.
A major mechanism of irreversible bioactivation is where a piece of a protein is cut off by cleavage, producing an enzyme that will then stay active.
In protein synthesis, amino acids are carried by transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules and added to a growing polypeptide chain on the ribosome.
The amino acid bound to the tRNA is called an aminoacyl-tRNA, and is considered the activated molecule in protein translation.