noun
- a salt or ester of cholic acid, especially sodium cholate, used in biochemistry and medicine as a bile salt and detergent.
Usage: technical; chemistry/biochemistry
Examples
- Sodium cholate is commonly used in laboratory experiments to solubilize lipids.
- The cholate molecule acts as a detergent in cellular membranes.
- Researchers added cholate to the solution to improve protein extraction.
- Cholate derivatives are important in studying bile acid metabolism.