Adenylcontaining

Adenylcontaining is an informal descriptor used to refer to molecules that incorporate an adenylyl (AMP) moiety in their chemical structure or as a covalently attached group. In biochemistry and molecular biology, many reactions involve the transfer or attachment of an adenosine monophosphate unit, producing adenylated or AMP-containing substances.

In metabolism and enzymology, adenylation is a common activation strategy. Enzymes called adenylyltransferases or acyl-adenylate-forming enzymes catalyze the formation of acyl-AMP intermediates from ATP and a substrate, enabling subsequent steps such as formation of fatty acyl-CoA or aminoacyl-tRNA. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, for example, activate amino acids as aminoacyl-AMP before transfer to tRNA. Cyclic processes also involve adenylates, with ATP serving as the adenylate donor in signaling molecules like cyclic AMP (cAMP), a key second messenger in many signaling pathways.

Proteins can also become adenylated in a post-translational modification known as AMPylation (adenylylation), where an AMP group is covalently attached to amino acid residues on the target. This modification is carried out by specific enzymes (for example, Fic domain proteins) and can regulate protein activity, localization, or interactions. In this context, the term adenyl-containing may describe a protein or molecule that bears an AMP moiety as part of its structure or modification state.

Because "adenylcontaining" is not a standard technical term, it is often clearer to describe specific features, such as “AMP-containing,” “adenylylated,” or “adenylate-activated,” depending on the context.