Tell me more ×
Biology Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for biology researchers, academics, and students. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 8 down vote favorite

Can someone give me some references showing the average concentration of ATP in a cell?

share|improve this question
The concentration of ATP depends strongly upon cell type, its current activity (for muscle, neuronal and secretorial cells). Besides, the local concentration of ATP in certain cell areas (mitochondria, near myosine heads, near membrane, in synaptic vesicles) might be orders of magnitude higher than that in other parts of cytozole. – Alexander Galkin Sep 18 '12 at 11:16

2 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

Answer

This article covers the energy charge and ATP concentrations of an array of muscle cells from many different organisms. Since many factors come into play (amount of glucose available, rate and regulation of glycolysis and cellular respiration, use of energy in metabolism, etc.) it is expected for the ATP concentration within the cell to vary significantly. The ATP concentrations reported span from approximately 1 to 10 mM.

References

- Beis, I, and E A Newsholme. “The Contents of Adenine Nucleotides, Phosphagens and Some Glycolytic Intermediates in Resting Muscles from Vertebrates and Invertebrates.” Biochemical Journal 152, no. 1 (October 1975): 23–32.

share|improve this answer
Muscle cells generally need much more ATP than any other cell in order to to relax. The concentration in other cells (for example neurons) can differ significantly from these values. – Alexander Galkin Sep 18 '12 at 11:14
up vote 2 down vote

Alternatively: http://bionumbers.hms.harvard.edu/search.aspx?log=y&task=searchbytrmorg&trm=atp+concentration&org=

As LanceLafontain answered, most of the numbers fall within the range of .5-10 mM

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.