Adenosine triphosphate

Description

Adenosine triphosphate, also known as ATP, is a molecule that carries energy within cells. It is one of the most important biological compounds because of its role in supplying energy for life. ATP is the universal energy carrier used by all organisms to supply energy for biological functions. It is often referred to as the energy currency of cells.
ATP also functions as a neurotransmitter that is stored and secreted with other neurotransmitters from the pancreas. ATP is a nucleotide consisting of the nucleoside adenosine with three attached phosphate groups (see Adenine). Like other nucleotides, ATP consists of three parts: a sugar, an amine base, and a phosphate group. The central part of the molecule in ATP is the sugar ribose. The amine base adenine is attached to the ribose, forming adenosine. Opposite the adenine on the ribose is attached a chain of three phosphate groups.

Description

Adenosine 5′-triphosphate, abbreviated ATP and usually expressed without the 5′-, is an important “energy molecule” found in all life forms. Specifically, it is a coenzyme that works with enzymes such as ATP triphosphatase to transfer energy to cells by releasing its phosphate groups. The molecule consists of three components: an adenine bicyclic system, a furanose ring, and a triphosphate chain.
Two research groups reported the discovery of ATP in 1929. Cyrus H. Fiske and Yellapragada Subbarow at Harvard Medical School (Boston) isolated it from mammalian muscle and liver. Likewise, Karl Lohmann at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes (Berlin and Heidelberg) identified it in muscle tissues.
ATP isolation from other sources followed over the next 15 years. Koscak Maruyama at Chiba University (Japan) wrote a comprehensive review of the discovery and structure elucidation of ATP in 1987.
ATP is biosynthesized in several ways, as described by Biology Dictionary:
Photophosphorylation is a method specific to plants and cyanobacteria. It is the creation of ATP from ADP using energy from sunlight, and occurs during photosynthesis. ATP is also formed from the process of cellular respiration in the mitochondria of a cell. This can be through aerobic respiration, which requires oxygen, or anaerobic respiration, which does not. Aerobic respiration produces ATP (along with carbon dioxide and water) from glucose and oxygen. Anaerobic respiration uses chemicals other than oxygen, and this process is primarily used by archaea and bacteria that live in anaerobic environments. Fermentation is another way of producing ATP that does not require oxygen; it is different from anaerobic respiration because it does not use an electron transport chain. Yeast and bacteria are examples of organisms that use fermentation to generate ATP.
ATP synthesized in mitochondria is the primary energy source for important biological functions, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, and protein synthesis. According to Susanna T?rnroth-Horsefield and Richard Neutze at the University of Gothenburg (G?teborg, Sweden), “On any given day you turn over your body weight equivalent in ATP, the principal energy currency of the cell.”

The Uses of Adenosine triphosphate

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) plays a critical role in the transport of macromolecules such as proteins and lipids into and out of the cell.  The hydrolysis of ATP provides the required energy for active transport mechanisms to carry such molecules across a concentration gradient.