Nucleotide

Nucleotides are organic molecules that serve as the monomers, or subunits, of nucleic acids like DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). The building blocks of nucleic acids, nucleotides are composed of a nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), and at least one phosphate group. Thus a nucleoside plus a phosphate group yields a nucleotide.

Nucleotides function to carry packets of energy within the cell in the form of the nucleoside triphosphates (ATP, GTP, CTP and UTP), playing a central role in metabolism. In addition, nucleotides participate in cell signaling (cGMP and cAMP), and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions (e.g. coenzyme A, FAD, FMN, NAD, and NADP⁺).

In experimental biochemistry, nucleotides can be radiolabeled with radionuclides to yield radionucleotides.

Structure

A nucleotide is made of a nucleobase (also termed a nitrogenous base), a five-carbon sugar (either ribose or 2-deoxyribose) depending on if it is DNA or RNA, and one or, depending on the definition, more than one phosphate groups. Authoritative chemistry sources such as the ACS Style Guide and IUPAC Gold Book clearly state that the term nucleotide refers only to a molecule containing one phosphate. However, common usage in molecular biology textbooks often extends this definition to include molecules with two or three phosphate groups. Thus, the term "nucleotide" generally refers to a nucleoside monophosphate, but a nucleoside diphosphate or nucleoside triphosphate could be considered a nucleotide as well.