Free energy in biological systems

ATP Is the Universal Currency of Free Energy in Biological Systems... 

ATP serves as the principal immediate donor of free energy in biological systems rather than as a long-term storage form of free energy. In a typical cell, an ATP molecule is consumed within a minute of its formation. Although the total quantity of ATP in the body is limited to approximately 100 g, the turnover of this small quantity of ATP is very high. 

ATP serves as the principal immediate donor of free energy in biological systems rather than as a long-term storage form of free energy. In a typical cell. 

Meirovitch, H. (2007). Recent developments in methodologies for calculating the entropy and free energy of biological systems by computer simulation. Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 17,181. 

Eisenberg, E. Hill, T.L. (1985). Muscle contraction and free energy transduction in biological systems. Science 227,999-1006. 

As we will see further in the book, almost all methods for calculating free energies in chemical and biological problems by means of computer simulations of equilibrium systems rely on one of the three approaches that we have just outlined, or on their possible combination. These methods can be applied not only in the context of the canonical ensemble, but also in other ensembles. As will be discussed in Chap. 5, AA can be also estimated from nonequilibrium simulations, to such extent that FEP and TI methods can be considered as limiting cases of this approach. 

Chipot, C., Free energy calculations in biological systems. How useful are they in practice in New Algorithms for Maeromolecular Simulation, Leimkuhler, B. Chipot, C. Elber, R. Laaksonen, A. Mark, A. E. Schlick, T. Schutte, C. Skeel, R., Eds., vol. 49. Springer Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 2005, pp. 183-209... 

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