Where does the energy come from that is stored and released by ATP?
ATP is the major source for energy in our body. It is the driving force for processes from metabolism to cellular messaging and many in between. To understand where the energy comes from you need to understand some basic chemical principals; the destruction of any bond will always release energy (exergonic), and the construction of any molecule from 2 ore more subunits will always require energy. ATP stands for Adenosine (a nucleotide base found in DNA and RNA) TriPhosphate. When our bodies use it as an energy source to drive processes, it hydrolyzes (ads water to break a bond) one of the phosphates off of the adenosine and yields Adenosine DiPhosphate (ADP). ATP is used because it is a simple molecule and easy to assemble. Once hydrolyzed in a reaction to form ADP, it can be enzymatically phosphorlated again by a protein called kinase.
