Pepsin from pigs was inhibited by 2 poly-L-lysines, LY 102 (mol. weight 12,300, d.p. 59) and LY 115 (mol. weight 43,870, d.p. 210), inhibition increasing over 3 hr, particularly with the latter.Maximum inhibitory concentrations of LY 102 and LY 115 were 70 and 40 μg/ml, resp.Both polylysines followed similar concentration-inhibition patterns, although the higher-mol.-weight substance appeared twice as active on a weight basis, probably indicating an easier access to a large number of interacting sites on the 2 macromols., pepsin and polylysine.Maximum optical absorbances (400 nm) did not usually occur at the same time as maximum inhibition; indee, for the highest inhibitions by both polylysines, the maximum absorbances occurred within 40 min after mixing pepsin and polylysine, while maximum inhibition occurred after ∼180 min.Highest inhibition therefore appears to be associated with the most rapid rate of formation of insoluble complex.The interaction between pepsin and these polylysines is apparently not completed instantaneously, and some aspect of the interaction proceeds with time, involving the active sites on the pepsin mol.