A subunit of nucleic
acid (e.g, deoxyribonucleic acidDNA or ribonucleic acidRNA). It consists of a 5-carbon
sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base (e.g., thymine, guanine, cytosine, adenine, or uracil).
Also, they are integrated into the cofactors of enzymatic reaction.
Furthermore, in cellular signalling, they are involved as cyclic adenosine monophosphate and cyclic guanosine monophosphate.
Lastly, nucleotides can also be chemical energy sources in the form of adenosine triphosphate(
ATP), a
core of metabolism.