Nucleotides

Nucleotides are organic molecules that serve as the monomers, or subunits, of nucleic acids like DNA and RNA. 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 serve 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.