Aminocarboxymuconic acid semialdehyde

The synthesis of NAD from tryptophan involves the non-enzymic cyclization of aminocarboxymuconic semialdehyde to quinolinic acid. The alternative metabolic fate of aminocarboxymuconic semialdehyde is decarboxylation, catalysed by picolinate carboxylase, leading to acetyl CoA and total oxidation. There is thus competition between an enzyme-catalysed reaction, which has hyperbolic, saturable kinetics, and a non-enzymic reaction, which has linear kinetics. At low rates of flux through the pathway, most metabolism will be by way of the enzyme-catalysed pathway, leading to oxidation. As the rate of formation of aminocarboxymuconic semialdehyde increases, and picolinate carboxylase becomes more or less saturated, so an increasing proportion will be available to undergo cyclization to quinolinic acid and onward metabolism to NAD. There is thus not a simple stoichiometric relationship between tryptophan and niacin, and the equivalence of the two coenzyme precursors will vary as the amount of tryptophan to be metabolized and the rate of metabolism vary. 

The activities of both kynurenine hydroxylase and kynureninase are only slightly higher than that of tryptophan dioxygenase under basal conditions, and increased tryptophan dioxygenase activity in response to glucocorticoid action is accompanied by increased accumulation and excretion of kynurenine, hydroxykynurenine and their transamination products, kynurenic and xanthurenic acids. Impairment of the activity of either enzyme may impair the onward metabolism of kynurenine and so reduce the accumulation of aminocarboxymuconic semialdehyde, and hence the synthesis of NAD. 

Figure 2 NAD metabolism. Tip = tryptophan, 3-HK = 3-hydroxykynurenine, 3-HA = 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid, ACMS = a-amino-P-carboxymuconate- -semialdehyde, AMS = a-aminomuconate- -semialdehyde, NaMN = nicotinic acid mononucleotide, NMN = nicotinamide mononucleotide, NaAD = nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide. For other abbreviations, see Figure 1. (1) tryptophan oxygenase [EC 1.13.11.11], (2) formy-dase [EC 3.5.1.9], (3) kynurenine 3-hydroxylase [EC 1.14.13.9], (4) kynureninase [EC 3.7.1.3], (5) 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid oxygenase [EC 1.13.11.6], (6) nonenzymatic, (7) aminocarboxymuconate-semialdehyde decarboxylase [EC 4.1.1.45], (8) quinolinate phos-phoribosyltransferase [EC 2.4.2.19], (9) NaMN adenylyltransferase [EC 2.7.2.18], (10) NAD synthetase [EC 6.3.5.1], (11) NAD kinase [EC 2.7.1.23], (12) NAD" glycohydro-lase [EC 3.2.2.5], (13) nicotinamide methyltransferase [EC 2.2.1.1], (14) 2-Py-forming MNA oxidase [EC 1.2.3.1], (15) 4-Py-forming MNA oxidase [EC number not given], (16) nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase [EC 2.4.2.12], (17) NMN adenylytransferase [EC 2.7.71], (18) nicotinate phosphoribosyltransferase [EC 2.4.2.11], (19) nicotinate methyltransferase [EC 2.7.1.7], and nicotinamidase [EC 3.5.1.19]. Solid line, biosynthesis dotted line, catabolism.

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