The Vital Role of ATP
- All organisms require a constant supply of energy to maintain their cells and stay alive
- This energy is required:
- In anabolic reactions – building larger molecules from smaller molecules
- To move substances across the cell membrane (active transport) or to move substances within the cell
- In animals, energy is required:
- For muscle contraction – to coordinate movement at the whole-organism level
- In the conduction of nerve impulses, as well as many other cellular processes
- In all known forms of life, ATP from respiration is used to transfer energy in all energy-requiring processes in cells
- This is why ATP is known as the universal energy currency
- Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) is a nucleotide
- The monomers of DNA and RNA are also nucleotides
