Cytidine triphosphate (CTP) is a pyrimidine nucleoside triphosphate. CTP, much like ATP, consists of a ribose sugar, and three phosphate groups. The major difference between the two molecules is the base used, which in CTP is cytosine.

CTP is a substrate in the synthesis of RNA.

CTP is a high-energy molecule similar to ATP, but its role as an energy coupler is limited to a much smaller subset of metabolic reactions. CTP is a coenzyme in metabolic reactions like the synthesis of glycerophospholipids, where it is used for activation and transfer of diacylglycerol and lipid head groups,[1] and glycosylation of proteins.

CTP acts as an inhibitor of the enzyme aspartate carbamoyltransferase, which is used in pyrimidine biosynthesis.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Buchanan BB, Gruissem W, Jones RL (2000). Biochemistry & molecular biology of plants (1st ed.). American society of plant physiology. ISBN 978-0-943088-39-6.
  2. ^ Blackburn, G. Michael. Nucleic Acids in Chemistry and Biology. The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2006, p. 119-120.