In this video, we're going to introduce Phosphorylation. Phosphorylation refers to the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to another molecule to provide energy. Phosphorylation by ATP hydrolysis can have a wide variety of effects, including activating a target molecule so that it's capable of reacting as well as changing the conformation of a target protein.
Notice, in the left-hand image, we're showing a glucose molecule here as the green hexagon. This glucose molecule is shown in its inactive form, meaning it's not able to react. However, after ATP hydrolysis and phosphorylation of the glucose molecule—where phosphorylation is the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to another molecule—notice that this phosphorylated form of glucose is the active form of glucose, which would be able to react. Now, phosphorylation does not always lead to the activation of a target molecule. This is just one example of what phosphorylation can lead to. Remember, phosphorylation can have a wide variety of effects. In some scenarios, phosphorylation will lead to activation, but in other scenarios, it could lead to inactivation as well.
On the right-hand side, we are focusing on a protein. This red circle represents a protein. Notice that after ATP hydrolysis and phosphorylation of the protein, the protein takes on a completely different conformation. It changes its shape, structure, and therefore, likely its function as well. You can see the phosphorylated protein here has an altered conformation.
This concludes our introduction to phosphorylation and how ATP is usually the source of the phosphate group in phosphorylation. Phosphorylation can lead to a wide variety of effects, including activating a target to react and changing the conformation of a target protein. This concludes our lesson, and I'll see you guys in our next video.