Nucleotide

Not to be confused with nucleoside or nucleobase.
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This nucleotide contains the five-carbon sugar deoxyribose (at center), a nucleobase called adenine (upper right), and one phosphate group (left). The deoxyribose sugar joined only to the nitrogenous base forms a Deoxyribonucleoside called deoxyadenosine, whereas the whole structure along with the phosphate group is a nucleotide, a constituent of DNA with the name deoxyadenosine monophosphate.

Nucleotides are organic molecules composed of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecules within all life-forms on Earth. Nucleotides are obtained in the diet and are also synthesized from common nutrients by the liver.[1]

Nucleotides are composed of three subunit molecules: a nucleobase, a five-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), and a phosphate group consisting of one to three phosphates. The four nucleobases in DNA are guanine, adenine, cytosine, and thymine; in RNA, uracil is used in place of thymine.

Nucleotides also play a central role in metabolism at a fundamental, cellular level. They provide chemical energy—in the form of the nucleoside triphosphates, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), guanosine triphosphate (GTP), cytidine triphosphate (CTP), and uridine triphosphate (UTP)—throughout the cell for the many cellular functions that demand energy, including: amino acid, protein and cell membrane synthesis, moving the cell and cell parts (both internally and intercellularly), cell division, etc..[2] In addition, nucleotides participate in cell signaling (cyclic guanosine monophosphate or cGMP and cyclic adenosine monophosphate or cAMP) and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions (e.g., coenzyme A, FAD, FMN, NAD, and NADP+).

In experimental biochemistry, nucleotides can be radiolabeled using radionuclides to yield radionucleotides.

5-nucleotides are also used in flavour enhancers as food additive to enhance the umami taste, often in the form of a yeast extract.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference easy-peasy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, Raff M, Roberts K & Walter P (2002). Molecular Biology of the Cell (4th ed.). Garland Science. ISBN 0-8153-3218-1. pp. 120–121.
  3. ^ Abd El-Aleem FS, Taher MS, Lotfy SN, El-Massry KF, Fadel HH (2017-12-18). "Influence of extracted 5-nucleotides on aroma compounds and flavour acceptability of real beef soup". International Journal of Food Properties. 20 (sup1): S1182–S1194. doi:10.1080/10942912.2017.1286506. S2CID 100497537.