Inosinic acid is a nucleoside monophosphate. Inosinic acid is important in metabolism. It is the ribonucleotide of hypoxanthine and the first nucleotide formed during the synthesis of purine. It is formed by the deamination of adenosine monophosphate, and is hydrolysed from inosine. IMP is an intermediate ribonucleoside monophosphate in purine metabolism. The enzyme deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate pyrophosphohydrolase, encoded by YJR069C in S. cerevisiae and containing (d)ITPase and (d)XTPase activities, hydrolyses ITP releasing pyrophosphate and IMP. Important derivatives of inosinic acid include purine nucleotides found in nucleic acids and adenosine triphosphate, which is used to store chemical energy in muscle and other tissues. In the food industry, inosinic acid and its salts such as disodium inosinate are used as flavour enhancers.
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