How many ATP does it take to translate a protein?

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How many ATP are needed for translation?
How much ATP is needed for protein synthesis?
Does protein translation require ATP?
How much ATP does it take to translate a 100 amino acid protein?

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Range ~5 ATP/amino acid Organism Generic Reference Piques et al., Ribosome and transcript copy numbers, polysome occupancy and enzyme dynamics in Arabidopsis. Mol Syst Biol. 2009 5: p.11 left column 3rd paragraphPubMed ID19888209 Primary Source Noguchi K, Nakajima N, Terashima I (2001) Acclimation of leaf respiratory properties in Alocasia odora following reciprocal transfers of plants between high- and low-light environments. Plant Cell Environ 24: 831–839 Comments The addition of an amino acid to a growing peptide chain requires two ATP molecules for amino acid activation and another two ATP for peptide bond formation and ribosome translation, plus additional costs of about another ATP, for error correction and the synthesis of sequences that are removed during protein maturation (primary source). Entered by Uri M ID 107782

dcohen said:

Definitely not relevant in terms of the MCAT. If you're really curious, it actually takes a different amount of energy to make each amino acid as they all go through different synthetic pathways. Just taking 2 basic examples to illustrate this point, glutamate/glutamine are produced from a transamination of alpha-keto-glutarate, an intermediate in the citric acid cycle. Alanine on the other hand is produced by the transamination of a pyruvate. Pretty much every metabolic intermediate is involved in amino acid synthesis (oxaloacetate, alpha-k-g, pyruvate, etc) as are many other molecules, so there's no set amount of energy required per amino acid. Off the top of my head I think the range is somewhere between 6 or so and 38 ATP.

edit: in this explanation I assumed that the different essential metabolic intermediates, themselves producing different amounts of energy, would illustrate the different amounts of energy used in creating certain amino acids (i.e. amount required for synthesis ~ amount resulting from breakdown)
Click to expand...

I actually had this in a biochem class but did not feel like reviewing it again because it looked like it was out of scope. This Q showed up in a TPR test...

Elongation of the amino acid needs 4 ATP per amino acid. The initial step in elongating the polypeptide activates the amino acids and then it is connected to the tRNA. This procedure converts an ATP to an AMP, costing two phosphate groups. This is equal in hydrolyzing two ATPs in this step.

Subsequent, the “loaded” aminoacyl-tRNA is moved towards the ribosome’s A-site. This is achieved with the aid of the elongation factor EF-Tu and the GTP’s hydrolysis. The GTP hydrolysis is actively equal to hydrolyzing another ATP.

Lastly, the aminoacyl-tRNA is moved to the P-Site from A-site utilizing EF-G: GTP complex. Again, GTP is hydrolyzed to the GDP which is again equivalent to the single GTP hydrolysis. Thus, there are total 4 ATP equivalents per amino acids.

295A.A×4ATPA.A.=1180 ATP

We now should consider termination and initiation. Initiation needs 2 ATP. One is in the form of GTP, for Met-tRNAi binding to form the 40S pre-initiation complex, and another is in the form of ATP in forming the initiation complex. The Met-tRNAi formation costs another 2 ATP.

Termination needs the hydrolysis of a single GTP. This means that for the amino acid, which is about 296 amino acids long, 4 ATP equivalents would be consumed within initiation, 1180 ATP equivalents are consumed during elongation, plus 1 ATP equivalent are consumed during termination. In this process, total 1185 ATP equivalents are provided.

Hint: The main route for the disposal of amino acids is protein synthesis. By binding to specific molecules of transfer RNA, amino acids are activated and assembled by ribosomes into a sequence specified by messenger RNA which, in turn, has been transcribed from the DNA template. Between adjacent amino acids, peptide bonds are then formed.

Complete Answer:
- A chemical compound (nucleotide) that is incorporated into the growing RNA chain during RNA synthesis and used as an energy source during protein synthesis is GTP (also known as guanylyl imidodiphosphate, guanosine-5'-triphosphate, or guanosine triphosphate).
- The energy-carrying molecule adenosine triphosphate ( ATP) is present in the cells of all living organisms. ATP captures and releases chemical energy derived from the breakdown of food molecules to power other cellular processes. ATP then functions as a shuttle, transporting energy to areas where energy-consuming activities take place within the cell.
- An amino acid has to be added to the respective tRNA in order to be inserted into the peptide chain, so that it can be taken to the translational machinery as and when necessary by the mRNA codon. 1 ATP is used in this method of attachment to the tRNA, also called tRNA charging.
- 1 GTP is used to render the 30S complex of the ribosome in the initiation step of the translation process. 2 GTPs, 1 GTP for the positioning of the incoming tRNA and the other for the translocation of the ribosome for the continuation of the elongation process are used in the elongation stage of the translation.
- 1 GTP is used to release the newly formed polypeptide chain in the termination step of translation. So, 1 ATP and 4 GTP molecules are used for each single amino acid incorporated into the peptide chain.
- One GTP is hydrolyzed to GDP as each successive complex of amino acid-tRNA binds to the ribosome's A site.
- As the ribosome travels to each fresh codon in the mRNA, a second GTP is broken down to GDP. During amino acid activation, one ATP is hydrolysed to AMP. Thus, 3 high-energy molecules, one ATP and two GTP, are used to form each peptide bond.

The correct answer is option(D) 25 ATP , 50 GTP.

Note: The disposal of amino acids is regulated by protein synthesis, but a series of complex pathways often oxidise amino acids, some of which produce other useful small molecules. In the liver, nitrogen from amino acids is converted into urea and excreted in the urine. In plasma, amino acids flow naturally and are distributed throughout all tissues. For the transport of amino acids through cell membranes, a set of particular proteins are responsible.

How many ATP are needed for translation?

- 1 GTP is used to release the newly formed polypeptide chain in the termination step of translation. So, 1 ATP and 4 GTP molecules are used for each single amino acid incorporated into the peptide chain.

How much ATP is needed for protein synthesis?

The addition of an amino acid to a growing peptide chain requires two ATP molecules for amino acid activation and another two ATP for peptide bond formation and ribosome translation, plus additional costs of about another ATP, for error correction and the synthesis of sequences that are removed during protein ...

Does protein translation require ATP?

Translation of mRNA into a protein requires ribosomes, mRNA, tRNA, exogenous protein factors and energy in the form of ATP and GTP.

How much ATP does it take to translate a 100 amino acid protein?

Explanation: When one tRNA brings amino acid to form an amino acid polypeptide chain it needs energy molecules which is one ATP, so a t-RNA carrying 100 amino acids will require 100 ATP molecules to form 100 amino acid polypeptide chain.