Bioluminescent Assay of the Adenylate Energy Charge

The “adenylate control hypotheses” proposed by Atkinson from UCLA (1 ) was further developed into the adenylate energy charge (AEC) concept in the 1960s (2 , 3 ) and thereafter codified (4 ). This concept arose from making an analogy between the adenme nucleotide pool of ATP, ADP, and AMP, and a chemical storage battery or accumulator cell. The common elements include: (1) the total amount of material typically remains constant, and (2) chemical energy can be stored and recovered by alteration of the ratio of the components. The charge of the three-component adenylate system is given by the mole fraction of ATP plus 1/2 of the mole fraction of ADP. It is shown in the following expression: