AICAR is a natural metabolic intermediate of the purine biosynthetic pathway. In its monophosphate form, AICAR is a potent AMPK agonist, which at low concentrations, does not affect AMP, ADP, or ATP levels. [1] AICAR's interacts directly with AMPK, inducing a conformational change that favors phosphorylation of the catalytic alpha subunit.

AMPK is also implicated in the modulation of enzymes such as glucokinase and glycogen phosphorylase. Direct binding by AICAR to phosphofructokinase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase have been reported. AICAR's interaction with HSP90 has also been studied and found to have antiproliferative effects in tumor cell lines such as PC-3, MCF-7, C6 glioma, U87MG, K-562, and CEM. [1, 2]