Phosphates energy storage

Phosphate condensation reactions play an essential role in metabolism. Recall from Section 14.6 that the conversion of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) requires an input of free energy ADP -I-H3 PO4 ATP +H2O AG° — +30.6kJ As also described in that section, ATP serves as a major biochemical energy source, releasing energy in the reverse, hydrolysis, reaction. The ease of interchanging O—H and O—P bonds probably accounts for the fact that nature chose a phosphate condensation/hydrolysis reaction for energy storage and transport. 

DNA and RNA are formed of nucleotides. Each nucleotide or nucleoside is composed of a purine or pyrimidine base linked to the 1-position of a ribose sugar in the case of RNA and a 2 -deoxyribose sugar in the case of DNA.155 The 5 position is phosphorylated in the case of a nucleotide, while the nucleoside is not phosphorylated therefore, nucleotides are nucleoside phosphates. Phosphorylation can include one, two, or three phosphate groups. The most familiar example of a phosphorylated nucleotide is phosphorylated adenosine, which occurs as the mono-, di-, and triphosphate (AMP, ADP, and ATP, respectively) and is a principal means of energy storage in biological systems. 

Pyruvate oxidase. The soluble flavoprotein pyruvate oxidase, which was discussed briefly in Chapter 14 (Fig. 14-2, Eq. 14-22), acts together with a membrane-bound electron transport system to convert pyruvate to acetyl phosphate and C02.319 Thiamin diphosphate is needed by this enzyme but lipoic acid is not. The flavin probably dehydrogenates the thiamin-bound intermediate to 2-acetylthiamin as shown in Eq. 15-34. The electron acceptor is the bound FAD and the reaction may occur in two steps as shown with a thiamin diphosphate radical intermediate.3193 Reaction with inorganic phosphate generates the energy storage metabolite acetyl phosphate. 

A perusal of current biochemistry texts suggests that the use of the squiggle has largely died out, but the concept of a group potential and the importance of these phosphate anhydride bonds in energy storage and transfer is universally accepted. Lipmann shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1953 with Hans Krebs of the Krebs (citric acid) cycle. His Nobel citation read in part,... 

Phosphate Facilitates energy storage and release, nucleotide synthesis, and maintenance of acid-base balance in body fluids Men women 700 mg/d... 

Reactions involving the formation and hydrolysis of phosphate and polyphosphate esters are of vital importance in biological systems in which it is found that magnesium ions are almost invariably implicated. The formation and decomposition of adenosine triphosphate are the fundamental reactions involved in energy storage in living systems. In this context, it is perhaps relevant to note that the hydrolysis of ATP is enhanced, albeit in a very modest manner, by some cobalt(m) complexes. 

A final group of biologically important phosphate compounds is the phosphoramidates, which are characterized by the structure shown in Figure III-33. Phosphocreatine, an important energy storage compound in muscle, and phosphohistidine, an intermediate in several enzyme reactions, are two examples (Fig. III-34). 

Conceptual Insights, Overview of Carbohydrate and Fatty Acid Metabolism. View this media module to better understand how glycogen metabolism fits in with other energy storage and utilization pathways (glycolysis, citric acid cycle, pentose phosphate pathway, and fatty acid metabolism). 

Creatine phosphate, a storage form for high-energy phosphate, is produced from creatine and ATP. It spontaneously cyclizes to form creatinine, which is excreted in the urine. 

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