Question

Ribose and adenine are found together as components of a wide variety of larger biological molecules including molecules that are not nucleic acids. List 3 examples.

Answer 1

There are many compounds consisting of Ribose and adenosine. 3 among them are as follows

1) Adenosine Triphosphate / ATP

ATP is a most important molecule in which the energy is stored. Basically it is a energy currency of cell. Its structure consist of an adenine base attached to a ribose sugar, which is attached to three phosphate groups. Whenever the energy is required the bond between these 3 phosphate is broken. If one phosphate is bond is broken then ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate) is formed. If two bonds are broken then AMP (Adenosine Monophosphate) is formed. The structure is as follows:

2) Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate/ Cyclic AMP / cAMP

Cyclic AMP is a small cyclized monophosphate which is composed of adenosine and ribose sugar. It is secondary messenger involved in intracellular signal induction. This is produced from ATP with the help of enzyme adenylate cyclase. Cyclic AMP is also found to be involved in the regulation of sugar and lipid metabolism.The structure is as follows:

3) Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide / NAD

NAD is a coenzyme which potentially functions as an electron carrier and is essential for the continued production of ATP.  NAD is able to accept and carry hydrogen and two electrons. It is composed of 2 nucleotide joined by a phosphate molecule. The structure is as follows:

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