text: Adenylate kinase is present in mitochondrial and myofibrillar compartments in the cell, and it makes two high-energy phosphoryls (β and γ) of ATP available to be transferred between adenine nucleotide molecules.  In essence, adenylate kinase shuttles ATP to sites of high energy consumption and removes the AMP generated over the course of those reactions.  These sequential phosphotransfer relays ultimately result in propagation of the phosphoryl groups along collections of ADK molecules. This process can be thought of as a bucket brigade of ADK molecules that results in changes in local intracellular metabolic flux without apparent global changes in metabolite concentrations. This process is extremely important for overall homeostasis of the cell.