pyruvate
pyruvate — noun
1. a chemical substance that living cells produce when they break down sugar to obt
a chemical substance that living cells produce when they break down sugar to obtain energy. It can be converted into other important compounds such as lactate or acetyl-CoA, which the body uses for growth and cell function.
After glycolysis, each glucose molecule is broken down into two molecules of pyruvate.
passive: is broken down into pyruvate
As Erik sprints, his muscle cells turn pyruvate into lactate to produce energy without oxygen.
collocation: turn pyruvate into [compound]
Pyruvate enters the mitochondria and gets converted into acetyl-CoA, a key fuel for the cell.
Adina learned in biology class that pyruvate connects sugar breakdown to the energy cycle inside cells.
文法句型
pyruvate + verb (singular)
a pyruvate molecule
用法筆記
In scientific writing, pyruvate is most often used as an uncountable noun (e.g., 'Pyruvate is produced during glycolysis'), but it can be countable when referring to individual molecules (e.g., 'two pyruvate molecules').