Deoxycytidine triphosphate
Encyclopedia
Deoxycytidine triphosphate (dCTP) is a nucleoside triphosphate
Nucleoside triphosphate
Nucleoside triphosphate is a nucleoside with three phosphates. Natural nucleoside triphosphates include adenosine triphosphate , guanosine triphosphate , cytidine triphosphate , 5-methyluridine triphosphate , and uridine triphosphate . These terms refer to those nucleoside triphosphates that...

 that is used whenever DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 is synthesized, such as in the polymerase chain reaction
Polymerase chain reaction
The polymerase chain reaction is a scientific technique in molecular biology to amplify a single or a few copies of a piece of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence....

.
e.g.:

A chemical equation
Chemical equation
A chemical equation is the symbolic representation of a chemical reaction where the reactant entities are given on the left hand side and the product entities on the right hand side. The coefficients next to the symbols and formulae of entities are the absolute values of the stoichiometric numbers...

 can be written that represents the process:
(DNA)n + dCTP ↔ (DNA)n-C + PPi


That is, dCTP has the PPi (pyrophosphate
Pyrophosphate
In chemistry, the anion, the salts, and the esters of pyrophosphoric acid are called pyrophosphates. Any salt or ester containing two phosphate groups is called a diphosphate. As a food additive, diphosphates are known as E450.- Chemistry :...

) cleaved off and the dCMP
Deoxycytidine monophosphate
Deoxycytidine monophosphate, also known as deoxycytidylate, or dCMP, is a deoxynucleotide, and one of the four monomers that make up DNA. In a DNA double helix, it will base pair with deoxyguanosine monophosphate....

 is incorporated into the DNA strand at the 3' end.
Subsequent hydrolysis of the PPi drives the equilibrium of the reaction toward the right side, i.e. incorporation of the nucleotide in the growing DNA chain.

It is stored at -20 degrees Celsius.

See also

  • DNA Replication
    DNA replication
    DNA replication is a biological process that occurs in all living organisms and copies their DNA; it is the basis for biological inheritance. The process starts with one double-stranded DNA molecule and produces two identical copies of the molecule...

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