What is "statine"

n. (context organic compound English) An unusual amino acid ''4-amino-3-hydroxy-6-methylheptanoic acid'' that is a component of pepstatin; any of several derivatives of this compound

Statine is a gamma amino acid that occurs twice in the sequence of pepstatin, a protease inhibitor that is active against pepsin and other acid proteases. It is thought to be responsible for the inhibitory activity of pepstatin because it mimics the tetrahedral transition state of peptide catalysis.