Every living organism consists of cells that rely on ATP for theirenergy needs.
ATP is made by converting the food we eat into energy.
It’s an essential building block for all life forms.
Verywell / Getty Images
All forms of life rely on ATP to do the things they must do to survive.
This article explains how adenosine triphosphate works and how it’s made.
Verywell / Getty Images
What Does ATP Do?
ATP is essential for life and makes it possible for us to do the things we do.
For all living cells, ATP is like the gas in a car’s fuel tank.
Without ATP, cells wouldn’t have a source of usable energy, and the organism would die.
Function of ATP
ATP is aneurotransmitter.
It carries messages from one nerve cell (neuron) to another.
Its role as a neurotransmitter is to maintainhomeostasis(equilibrium) throughout the body.
Your body needs ATP to makeDNAand RNA.
It needs the triphosphate in ATP to make RNA.
For DNA, your body first converts ATP todeoxyribonucleotide(dATP) by removing an oxygen atom.
Sending messages within cells requires ATP.
These messengers regulate the inner workings of cells.
ATP is also involved in muscle contraction.
Your muscles can store a small amount of ATP.
This ATP is used up rather quickly when you’re using your muscles, like when you’re exercising.
Then your body makes more ATP and sends it to the muscles to sustain exercise levels.
ATP administered through a vein (intravenously) can help control pain by acting on the A1 adenosine receptor.
This initiates a signaling process, which can aid in relieving pain due to inflammation.
In some cases, the effect can last for weeks.
ATP can be used to help withanesthesia.
This can reduce opioid use after surgery.
If left untreated, this condition can cause heart failure and early death.
ATP may be helpful for people withadvanced solid tumors.
If adenosine only has one phosphate molecule, its called adenosine monophosphate (AMP).
If it has two phosphates, its called adenosine diphosphate (ADP).
The most energy-loaded composition for adenosine is ATP, which has three phosphates.
Discovery of ATP
ATP was first discovered during the 1920s.
In 1929, Karl Lohmanna German chemist studying muscle contractionsisolated what we now call adenosine triphosphate in a laboratory.
At the time, Lohmann called ATP by a different name.
ATP is a high-energy molecule with three phosphate bonds; ADP is low-energy with only two phosphate bonds.
Conversely, ADP becomes ATP when a phosphate molecule is added.
As part of an ongoing energy cycle, ADP is constantly recycled back into ATP.
On the flip side, when a phosphate bond is added, ADP becomes ATP.
This happens through a process calledhydrolysis.
After food is digested, it’s synthesized into glucose, which is a form of sugar.
Anaerobic exercisemeans that your body is working out “without oxygen.”
Anaerobic glycolysis occurs in human cells when there isn’t enough oxygen available during an anaerobic workout.
In the absence of oxygen, lactic acid fermentation makes ATP anaerobically.
Duringaerobic exercise, mitochondria have enough oxygen to make ATP aerobically.
Summary
ATP is essential to providing energy to cells.
It can also be used clinically in pain management, anesthesia, cardiology, and surgery.
The body makes ATP from dietary fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
The cells' mitochondria convert glucose into ATP through aerobic as well as anaerobic respiration.
Over 24 hours, the human body turns over its weight in ATP.
ATP deficiencies can reduce energy and make you feel lethargic.
Adenosine metabolism rates may affect your vulnerability to sleep deprivation and your deep-sleep quality.
Research suggests that sleep-wake cycles are influenced by how adenosine is metabolized in the brain.
Morelli AM, Ravera S, Panfoli I.The aerobic mitochondrial ATP synthesis from a comprehensive point of view.Open Biol.
2020;10(10):200224. doi:10.1098/rsob.200224
Dunn J, Grider MH.Physiology, adenosine triphosphate.
StatPearls Publishing; 2023.
2021;9:66815. doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.667815
Hargreaves M, Spriet LL.Skeletal muscle energy metabolism during exercise.Nat Metab.
2020;2(9):817-828. doi:10.1038/s42255-020-0251-4
National Cancer Institute.NCI dictionary of cancer terms: adenosine triphosphate.
ScienceDirect Topics.Adenosine triphosphate: overview.
Max Planck Research.Cells flexing their muscle.
Surita G.The power of phosphate.Hist Stud Nat Sci.
2022;31(4):e13597.
