ATP in Energy Coupling and Transfer

Week 1
A cell performs three main kinds of work: mechanical, transport and chemical work.

Mechanical work includes beating of cilia, the contraction of muscle cells, the flow of cytoplasm within
the cell and the movement of chromosomes during cellular reproduction. Transport work involves the
pumping of substances across membranes against the direction of spontaneous movement while
chemical work includes the pushing of endergonic reactions that would not occur spontaneously, such
as the synthesis of polymers from monomers.

In most cases, the immediate source of energy that powers cellular work is adenosine triphosphate
(ATP)

Hydrolysis of ATP

The triphosphate bond of ATP is unstable and the bond between the phosphate group can be broken by
hydrolysis.

ATP+H20 = ADP+Pi+energy
The reverse reaction, which regenerates ATP from ADP and Pi, requires energy.

Reaction Coupling

cells use a strategy called reaction coupling, in which an energetically favorable reaction (like ATP
hydrolysis) is directly linked with an energetically unfavorable (endergonic) reaction.

ATP in reaction coupling

When reaction coupling involves ATP, the shared intermediate is often a phosphorylated molecule

1. T (Cells extract energy from foods through a series of reactions that have negative free energy
changes. Much of the free energy released is not allowed to dissipate as heat, but is captured in
chemical bonds formed by other molecules for use throughout the cell. In almost all organisms the most
important molecule for capturing and transferring free energy is adenosine triphosphate, or A TP. The
useful free energy in an A TP molecule is contained in high energy phosphoanhydride bonds.
References: (See p. 86. The Role of ATP in Metabolism by: R W HANSON))

2. F (ATP powers the majority of energy-requiring cellular reactions not the ADP. The energy released
from the hydrolysis of ATP into ADP is used to perform cellular work, usually by coupling the exergonic
reaction of ATP hydrolysis with endergonic reactions.

3. T (Because of the presence of unstable, high-energy bonds in ATP, it is readily hydrolyzed in reactions
to release a large amount of energy. ATP finds use in several cellular processes such as Active Transport,
Cell Signaling, Structural Maintenance, Synthesis of DNA and RNA etc)

4. F (ATP is a nucleotide that consists of three main structures: the nitrogenous base, adenine; the
sugar, ribose; and a chain of three phosphate groups bound to ribose.)

5. T (ATP is the major 'energy' molecule produced by metabolism, and it serves as a sort of 'energy
source' in cell. It is a common feature in biological systems where some enzyme-catalyzed reactions are
interpretable as two coupled half-reactions, one spontaneous and the other non-spontaneous.