Carbamoyl aspartate, formation

Purine Biosynthesis Is Regulated at Two Levels Pyrimidine Biosynthesis Is Regulated at the Level of Carbamoyl Aspartate Formation Deoxyribonucleotide Synthesis Is Regulated by Both Activators and Inhibitors... 

Pyrimidine Biosynthesis Is Regulated at the Level of Carbamoyl Aspartate Formation... 

A different, simpler , pathway is involved in the synthesis of pyrimidine nucleotides. A pyrimidine base (orotate), is synthesised first. Then the ribose is added from 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate. The two precursors for the formation of orotate are carbamoylphosphate and aspartate, which form carbamoyl aspartate, catalysed by aspartate carbamoyltransferase. 

In bacteria, the first committed step in pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis is the formation of carbamoyl aspartate... 

Aspartate carbamoyltransferase catalyzes the formation of carbamoyl aspartate from carbamoyl phosphate and aspartate in the first committed step of pyrimidine biosynthesis (Chap. 15). The enzyme from the bacterium E. coli (Mr = 310,000) consists of 12 subunits, six regulatory and six catalytic. CTP is a negative effector i.e., it inhibits the enzyme, and does so through binding to the regulatory subunits. ATP is a positive effector that acts through the regulatory subunits, while succinate inhibits the reaction by direct competition with aspartate at the active site (see Chap. 9 for more on effectors). 

In the biosynthesis of both pyrimidine and urea (or arginine) (Chapter 17), carbamoyl phosphate is the source of carbon and nitrogen atoms. In pyrimidine biosynthesis, carbamoyl phosphate serves as donor of the carbamoyl group to aspartate with the formation of carbamoyl aspartate. In urea synthesis, the carbamoyl moiety of carbamoyl phosphate is transferred to ornithine, giving rise to citrulline. 

The first step in the pathway, formation of carbamoyl aspartate from aspartate and carbamoyl phosphate, is the primary regulatory point in the pathway. The enzyme, aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) (see here), is activated by ATP and inhibited by CTP, which is the end product of the pathway. Another point of regulation is CTP synthetase, which is feedback inhibited by CTP and activated by GTP. In bacteria, synthesis of ATCase subunits is inhibited by high levels of UTP. The inverted regulatory effects of purine and pyrimidines in the pathway are yet another way cells maintain a proper balance of nucleotides. 

Another enzyme-catalyzed reaction is the one catalyzed by the enzyme aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATGase). This reaction is the first step in a pathway leading to the formation of cytidine triphosphate (GTP) and uridine triphosphate (UTP), which are ultimately needed for the biosynthesis of RNA and DNA. In this reaction, carbamoyl phosphate reacts with aspartate to produce carbamoyl aspartate and phosphate ion. 

Carbamoyl phosphate (CP) serves as a substrate for two separate transcarbamylase enzymes. One of these, in a reaction with aspartic acid, yields carbamoyl aspartate, the first specific precursor in the UMP pathway the other, in a similar reaction with ornithine, has a similar role for the eventual synthesis of arginine. Thus, CP serves as a common precursor for both UMP and arginine, and special regulation of its formation must be obtained to assure a balanced supply of both end products. The problem is handled in a variety of ways by different organisms. 

Aspartate transcarbamylase (ATCase) catalyzes the formation of carbamoyl aspartate with CP and aspartic acid as substrates. It is the first specific enzyme for the pyrimidine pathway, and it holds a special place in the historical development of end-product control at this level. The concept of feedback inhibition as an important regulatory mechanism evolved from the initial discovery by Yates and Pardee [90] that CTP is a potent inhibitor of ATCase. It has since developed into a prototype for a regulatory protein with classic allosteric properties. A thorough characterization of the enzyme and its properties has been made through the combined efforts of Gerhart, Pardee, Schachman, and Changeux [91-97]. A summary of these studies follows. 

Biosynthesis of UMP. The parts of the intermediates derived from aspartate are shown in red. Bold type indicates atoms derived from carbamoyl phosphate. In contrast to purine nucleotide synthesis, where ring formation starts on the sugar, in pyrimidine biosynthesis the pyrimidine ring is completed before being attached to the ribose. 

Aspartate transcarbamoylase (aspartate carbamoyltransferase ATCase), a key enzyme in pyrimidine biosynthesis (see Topic FI), provides a good example of allosteric regulation. ATCase catalyzes the formation of N-carbamoylaspar-tate from aspartate and carbamoyl phosphate, and is the committed step in pyrimidine biosynthesis (Fig. 2). The binding of the two substrates aspartate and carbamoyl phosphate is cooperative, as shown by the sigmoidal curve of V0 against substrate concentration (Fig. 3). 

Urea is synthesized in the liver by a series of reactions known as the urea cycle (Fig. 15-13). One nitrogen is derived from ammonium, the second from aspartate and the carbon is derived from C02. The synthesis of urea requires the formation of carbamoyl phosphate and the four enzymatic reactions of the urea cycle. Some of the reactions take place in the mitochondria and some in the cytoplasm. The enzymes involved in the synthesis of urea are discussed below. 

Figure 10.6. PALA, a Bisubstrate Analog. (Top) Nucleophilic attack by the amino group of aspartate on the carbonyl carbon atom of carbamoyl phosphate generates an intermediate on the pathway to the formation of N-carbamoylaspartate. (Bottom) A-(Phosphonacetyl)-l-aspartate (PALA) is an analog of the reaction intermediate and a potent competitive inhibitor of aspartate transcarbamoylase.

The pyrimidine ring is assembled first and then linked to ribose phosphate to form a pyrimidine nucleotide. PRPP is the donor of the ribose phosphate moiety. The synthesis of the pyrimidine ring starts with the formation of carbamoylaspartate from carbamoyl phosphate and aspartate, a reaction catalyzed by aspartate transcarbamoylase. Dehydration, cyclization, and oxidation yield orotate, which reacts with PRPP to give orotidylate. Decarboxylation of this pyrimidine nucleotide yields UMP. CTP is then formed by the amination of UTP. 

The metabolic interrelationship between mitochondrial carbamoyl phosphate synthesis to urea formation and to cytosolic carbamoyl phosphate channeled into pyrimidine biosynthesis. In ornithine transcarbamoyiase (OTC) deficiency, mitochondrial carbamoyl phosphate diffuses into the cytosol and stimulates pyrimidine biosynthesis, leading to orotidinuria. Administration of allopurinol augments orotidinuria by increasing the flux in the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. CPS = Carbamoyl phosphate synthase, AT = aspartate transcarbamoyiase, D = dihydroorotase, DH = dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, OPRT = orotate phosphoribosyltransferase, XO = xanthine oxida.se,... 

The answer is c. (Murray, pp 375-401. Scriver, pp 2513-2570. Sack, pp 121-138. Wilson, pp 287-320.) The steps of pyrimicfine nucleotide biosynthesis are summarized in the figure below. The first step in pyrimidine synthesis is the formation of carbamoyl phosphate. The enzyme catalyzing this step, carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (1), is feedback-inhibited by UMP through allosteric effects on enzyme structure (not by competitive inhibition with its substrates). The enzyme of the second step, aspartate transcarbamoylase, is composed of catalytic and regulatory subunits. The regulatory subunit binds CTP or ATP TTP has no role in the feedback inhibition of pyrimidine synthesis. Decreased rather than increased activity of enzymes 1 and 2 would be produced by allosteric feedback inhibition. 

A particularly intuitive application of this concept may be the experimental anticancer drug N-(phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartate (PALA). The first step in the de novo biosynthesis of the pyrimidine nucleotide formation in the cell involves the condensation of carbamoyl phosphate with L-aspartic acid catalyzed by the enzyme aspartate transcarbamylase (Eq. 2.14).2 One can postulate a transition state, as shown in Eq. 2.14. 

Urea is synthesized in the liver in the urea cycle. The first step is formation of carbamoyl phosphate from ammonia, C02, and ATP. This is followed by a number of other steps, including formation of citrulline, argininosuccinate, and arginine, which is split to urea plus ornithine. The second nitrogen of urea is donated by aspartate in the formation of argininosuccinate. 

In mammals, the committed step for pyrimidine synthesis is catalyzed by carbamoyl phosphate synthetase, while in bacteria, the committed step is the formation of N-car-bamoylaspartate, catalyzed by aspartate transcarbamoylase. 

Figure 16.S illustrates the reactions and the com-partmentalization of the enzymes of the urea cycle. The first reaction in urea biosynthesis is the mitochondrial formation of carbamoyl phosphate, the substrate of the urea cycle. The reaction utilizes an ammonium (NH4 ) ion, delivered into the mitochondrion as glutamate by the action of both the glutamate-aspartate (Section 11.3) and the glutamate-hydroxyl ion antiport carriers. Oxidative deamination of glutamate by glutamate dehydrogenase releases an NH4 ion.

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