In a catabolic pathway, the purine nucleotide cycle, adenosine monophosphate can be converted to uric acid, which is excreted from the body in mammals.

Catabolic mechanisms, which generate ATP through the release of energy from breaking down molecules, are activated by the AMPK enzyme while anabolic mechanisms, which utilize energy from ATP to form products, are inhibited.

This variance in AMP/ADP versus ATP binding leads to a shift in the dephosphorylation state for the enzyme.

Within certain cells the enzyme adenylate cyclase makes cAMP from ATP, and typically this reaction is regulated by hormones such as adrenaline or glucagon.

[15] In skeletal muscle, cyclic AMP, triggered by adrenaline, starts a cascade (cAMP-dependent pathway) for the conversion of myophosphorylase-b into the phosphorylated form of myophoshorylase-a for glycogenolysis.