Purines inosine conversions

The distribution and specific radioactivities of the purine compounds found in perchloric acid extracts prepared from the labeled livers, after the 20 minute carrier perfusion, were then determined. The data of Table 1 confirm the rapid uptake of labeled purine and conversion to nucleotide, presumably via the phosphoribosyltransferases of the cell. The specific activity data also support the initial labeling of the nucleotides and the values are consistent with the relatively large pool of nucleotides within the cell. In each experiment, significant labeling of adenosine, inosine... 

Azathioprine is a cytotoxic inhibitor of purine synthesis effective for the control of tissue rejection in organ transplantation. It is also used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Its biologically active metabolite, mercaptopurine, is an inhibitor of DNA synthesis. Mercaptopurine undergoes further metabolism to the active antitumour and immunosuppressive thioinosinic acid. This inhibits the conversion of purines to the corresponding phosphoribosyl-5 phosphates and hypoxanthine to inosinic acid, leading to inhibition of cell division and this is the mechanism of the immunosuppression by azathioprine and mercaptopurine. Humans are more sensitive than other species to the toxic effects of the thiopurines, in particular those involving the haematopoietic system. The major limiting toxicity of the thiopurines is bone marrow suppression, with leucopenia and thrombocytopenia. Liver toxicity is another common toxic effect. 

The conversions of inosine to hypoxanthine (Fig. 25-17, step e), of guanosine to guanine (step g), and of other purine ribonucleosides and deoxyribonucleo-sides to free purine bases are catalyzed by purine nucleoside phosphorylase.318 321b Absence of this enzyme also causes a severe immune deficiency which involves the T cells. However, B cell function is not impaired.312 315 322... 

All biosynthetic pathways are under regulatory control by key allosteric enzymes that are influenced by the end products of the pathways. For example, the first step in the pathway for purine biosynthesis is inhibited in a concerted fashion by nucleotides of either adenine or guanine. In addition, the nucleoside monophosphate of each of these bases inhibits its own formation from inosine monophosphate (IMP). On the other hand, adenine nucleotides stimulate the conversion of IMP into GMP, and GTP is needed for AMP formation. 

Didanosine is a synthetic purine nucleoside analog that inhibits the activity of reverse transcriptase in HIV-1, HIV-2, other retroviruses and zidovudine-resistant strains. A nucleobase carrier helps transport it into the cell where it needs to be phosphorylated by 5 -nucleoiidase and inosine 5 -monophosphate phosphotransferase to didanosine S -monophosphate. Adenylosuccinate synthetase and adenylosuccinate lyase then convert didanosine 5 -monophosphate to dideoxyadenosine S -monophosphate, followed by its conversion to diphosphate by adenylate kinase and phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase, which is then phosphorylated by creatine kinase and phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase to dideoxyadenosine S -triphosphate, the active reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Dideoxyadenosine triphosphate inhibits the activity of HIV reverse transcriptase by competing with the natural substrate, deoxyadenosine triphosphate, and its incorporation into viral DNA causes termination of viral DNA chain elongation. It is 10-100-fold less potent than zidovudine in its antiviral activity, but is more active than zidovudine in nondividing and quiescent cells. At clinically relevant doses, it is not toxic to hematopoietic precursor cells or lymphocytes, and the resistance to the drug results from site-directed mutagenesis at codons 65 and 74 of viral reverse transcriptase. 

ThiolMP and ThioGMP are feedback inhibitors of phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amido-transferase, which is the first, and rate-limiting step in the synthesis of purine. In addition, these analogs inhibit the de novo biosynthesis of purine and block the conversion of inosinic acid to adenylic acid or guanylic acid. The triphosphate nucleotides are incorporated into DNA, and this results in delayed toxicity after several cell divisions. 

Small quantities of the 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide nucleotide were also isolated from the culture medium of Escherichia coli grown under sulfonamide bacteriostasis.i i This substance is considered to be an intermediate in purine biosynthesis, both in micro-organisms and in mammalian cells. In sulfonamide-inhibited cells and in the purine-requiring mutant of Escherichia coli, there is a block in the conversion of 5-amino-4-imidazole-carboxamide n-ribonucleotide to inosinic acid. The accumulated nucleotide in the bacterial cell is probably attacked by phosphatases this would explain why the nucleoside is the main metabolite. 

Nucleoside phosphorylase catalyzes the reversible conversion of a purine riboside such as inosine to a purine base such as hypoxanthine and ribose-1-phosphate. Free phosphate is also required as a substrate. 

Figure 9.99 Separation of the components of the reaction studied (catalysis by nucleoside phosphorylase of a purine riboside-base conversion) by HPLC. Chromatographic conditions isocratic elution flow rate, 2 mL/min 0.02 F KH2P04 (pH 4.2) and 3% methanol. Peaks 1, uric acid 2, hypoxanthine 3, xanthine 4, inosine. (From Halfpenny and Brown, 1980.)...

FIGURE 9.11 Conversion of inosine monophosphate to adenosine monophosphate and guanos-ine monophosphate. Aspartate donates an amino group in the s)mthesis of AMP. Glutamine donates an amino group in the synthesis of GMP. Folate is not used in these steps of purine metabolism. 

Mercaptopurine is not active until it is anabolized to the phosphorylated nucleotide. In this form, it comgietes with endogenous ribonucleotides for enzymes that convert ino-sinic acid into adenine- and xanthinc-ba.sed ribonucleotides. Furthermore, it is incoiporated into RNA. where it inhibits further RNA synthesis. One of its main metabolites is 6-mcthylmercaptopurine ribonucleotide, which also is a potent inhibitor of the conversion of inosinic acid into purines. - "... 

HGPRT is responsible for the conversion of guanine to guanylic acid and hypoxanthine to inosinic acid. These two conversions require PRPP as the cosubstrate and are important reutilization reactions involved in the synthesis of nucleic acids. A deficiency in the HGPRT enzyme leads to increased metabolism of guanine and hypoxanthine to uric acid, and more PRPP to interact with glutamine in the first step of the purine pathway." Complete absence of HGPRT results in the childhood Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, characterized by choreoathetosis, spasticity, mental retardation, and markedly excessive production of uric acid. A partial deficiency of the enzyme may be responsible for marked hyperuricemia in otherwise normal, healthy individuals. 

Direct conversion of inosines into 6-amino derivatives, without the intermediacy of a halo-purine, can be achieved by heating with a mixture of phosphorus pentoxide and the amine hydrochloride or using the amine with p-toluenesulfonic acid and a silylating agent (HMDS), or the amine with iodine and triphenylphosphine. ... 

Deamination of purine and pyrimidine bases (Figures 6(b) and 6(c)) is an important reaction in nucleotide salvage pathways and RNA editing. In nucleosides, two of the most characterized reactions involve the conversion of adenosine and cytidine to form inosine and uridine (with the elimination of one molecule of... 

Purine nucleosides, with the exception of adenosine, are salvaged by converting them into the base followed by phosphoribosylation. Adenosine is phosphorylated directly by adenosine kinase or deaminated by adenosine deaminase to inosine. Adenine and adenosine deaminase are present in the sporozoite and merozoite forms (64) the former is not in extracts from unsporulated oocysts (11) but the latter has apparently not been looked for. The ability to deaminate both adenine and adenosine allows this parasite to synthesize guanine nucleotides in the absence of AMP deaminase. The ratio of labeled adenine nucleotides to guanine nucleotides is about 20% higher when both adenine and adenosine are the precursors compared to the ratio obtained when hypoxanthine or inosine was used (64). This indicates that although the major route of salvage for adenine and adenosine is by conversion into hypoxanthine, there is some direct conversion of these compounds into AMP. 

Although the major route for aspartate degradation involves its conversion to oxaloacetate, carbons from aspartate can form fumarate in the urea cycle (see Chapter 38). This reaction generates cytosolic fumarate, which must be converted to malate (using cytoplasmic fumarase) for transport into the mitochondria for oxidative or anaplerotic purposes. An analogous sequence of reactions occurs in the purine nucleotide cycle. Aspartate reacts with inosine monophosphate (IMP) to... 

Hypoxanthine, on the other hand, which accounts for only a fifth or so of the urinary uric acid is an active intermediate. It is degraded to xanthine and then to uric add by xanthine oxidase. This enzyme is found mainly in liver, kidney, and bowel, while guanase is widely distributed and would quickly deaminate any guanine formed. The product xanthine is a poor substrate for hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltrans-ferase (HPRT). Most of the hypoxanthine formed is reutiliiced by conversion to inosinic acid. Similar conclusions were reached by Ayvazian and Skupp in 1965 when they administered C-labeled purines to patients (A2). Furthermore, these studies and those earlier studies show that the xanthine is converted to hypoxanthine, presumably at the nucleotide level, and on the basis of what we know about microorganisms, we would assume it to be via guanine nucleotides (M2). Since label was found in urinary 7-methylguanine as early as 4 hours after administration of C-labeled purines, and since methylation of RNA occurs at the macromolecular level (B13), interconversion must be rapid and incorporation of some of these products into nucleic acids must also occur quickly. 

Its action is very complex, and a little of it, after bio-transformation to thioguanidylic acid, is incorporated into cellular DNA (Tidd and Paterson, 1974 Parks et al., 1975). However, it is not established that this is a therapeutically important reaction. Much of it is converted, in the cell, into 6-thioinosine 5 -phosphate (TIP) (Brockman, 1963). TIP inhibits conversion of inosine 5 -phosphate to adenosine 5 -phosphate, thus bringing neogenesis of purines to a halt (Salser and Balis, 1965). It also exerts feedback inhibition of the biosynthesis of phosphoribosylamine, a carbohydrate involved in the earliest steps in purine biosynthesis (Bennett etaL, 1963). 

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