Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
cofactor

cofactor

2 8.1
A small chemical that an enzyme needs to work, for example vitamin B6
  • noun
  • /ˈkoʊfæktər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cofactor
  • All the other hormones that regulate body weight depend on this one hormone that is a critical cofactor in the brain.

He'll be speaking to us now about nutritional cofactors in TBHIV.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • This is one of the two major redox cofactors in all biology.

  • Our findings suggest that further examination of these other viral cofactors would be informative.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Cigarette smoking seems to be a cofactor in this condition.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The basic tool here is cofactor expansion, which we write as follows.

    Blog text (13)

  • In the literature, there exist at least four classes of RNR, each of which has its unique composition and cofactor requirement.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The addition of Apo-C is necessary as it acts as a cofactor to lipoprotein lipase (LPL).

    Blog text (28)

  • There are two enzymes that have cobalamin as a cofactor, but deficiency of only one, methionine synthase, causes the characteristic neurological disease.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Vitamin B6 functions as a cofactor in more than 100 enzyme reactions in the body.

  • Chromium is a cofactor for insulin, and it is essential for normal glucose metabolism.

  • Without adequate CoQ10 as a cofactor, ATP synthesis slows down, eventually leaving the cell in a vulnerable state.

Surface Forms

cofactor singular
cofactors plural

Morphology

cofactor = factor (semi-transparent) = co + factor

Formally analyzable as 'co-' + 'factor', but the specific biochemical meaning is technical and not fully guessable by an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Cofactor comes from co- meaning 'together' and factor meaning 'maker' or 'doer', the same factor you know from math. So a cofactor is something that 'works with' an enzyme to help it do its job.