pyruvate: Definition from Answers.com

A salt, ester or anion of pyruvic acid. The term is used interchangeably with pyruvic acid. Pyruvate is the end product of glycolysis and may be metabolized in the body to lactate or to acetyl CoA. In yeast it is metabolized to ethanol.

• p. carboxylase — an enzyme concerned in the conversion of pyruvate to oxaloacetic acid.
• p. dehydrogenase — actively concerned in the decarboxylation of pyruvate to acetyl CoA and CO₂.
• p. kinase — a glycolytic pathway enzyme (called also PK) which catalyzes the formation of pyruvate from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP). A deficiency of the enzyme is a hereditary defect in humans and occurs also in Beagle and Basenji dogs, causing a familial nonspherocytic anemia.
• p. transaminase — see alanine aminotransferase.