What Is Ribose Sugar?

Ribose is a sugar your body makes, with sugar referring to any type of carbohydrate made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Ribose is necessary for survival as an essential component of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).

Structure

• Ribose is a pentose, meaning it has five carbons. Ribose exists in a ring structure of four carbons connected by one oxygen.

Role in Metabolism

• Ribose is a core component of ATP, a molecule necessary for all cells. ATP stores the energy released from the metabolism of food and drives the majority of biological processes in the body.

Role in RNA

• The "ribo" part of the name, ribonucleic acid, comes from ribose, the core component of RNA. RNA is essential for translating deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) into proteins and RNA can also act as an enzyme.

  RNA differs from DNA due to one alcohol group (OH) missing in DNA.