Pyrimidines from nucleic acids

Ammonia is generated mainly from the metabolism of amino acids and from the catabolism of purine and pyrimidine bases, which are produced from nucleic acids. Since it is toxic, it must be converted to a non-toxic compound for excretion from the body. This is achieved via the ornithine cycle, more usually known as the urea cycle. 

A. Salvage pathways allow synthesis of nucleotides from free purines or pyrimidines that arise from nucleic acid degradation or dietary sources, which is more economical for the cell than de novo synthesis. 

Figure 3.5 The prebiotic synthesis of pyrimidines of nucleic acids. (From Miller, 1998.)...

The pyrimidine portion of thiamin (Fig. 25-21) is distinct in structure from the pyrimidines of nucleic acids. In bacteria it originates from the purine precursor 5-aminoimidazole ribotide, which is converted into a hydroxymethylpyrimidine (Fig. 25-21 )373 which is... 

III. The Structure of Pyrimidine Nucleosides Derived from Nucleic Acids.. . . 285... 

Identification of the nitrogenous bases (aglycons) of pyrimidine nucleosides began at the turn of the century, when Kossel and Neumann18 isolated thymine (5-methyluracil) from nucleic acid and showed this pyrimidine to be identical with the nucleosin previously described by Miescher.19 The isolation of cytosine20 [4-amino-2()//)-pyrimidinone] and uracil21 [2,4(1, 3 )-pyrimidinedione] from the nucleic acids came shortly there-... 

Since a comprehensive summary of the vast efforts that have been expended in establishing the exact structure of the purine and pyrimidine nucleosides derived from nucleic acids has recently appeared in this Series, the details of this work will be mentioned briefly but will not be discussed here. 

In this chapter we examine the synthesis and degradation of purines, pyrimidines, and hemes. These have complex structures, but are formed from simple precursors. All three can be synthesized in the body and have roles ranging from nucleic acids to hemoglobin. In addition to synthesis control of all three classes of compounds, a number of metabolic diseases associated particularly with purine and heme metabolism are discussed. The use of antimetabolites, as in chemotherapy, and the rationale for their use is presented. 

Additionally it should be remembered that nicotine metabolites still retain a pyridyl moiety and this functional group can release nicotinamide from NADPH and generate an analogue of the coenzyme via a glycohydrolase. As these analogues may not be able to participate in the normal oxido/reduction reactions of intermediary metabolism certain pathways may be inhibited leading to accumulation of substrates e.g. glucose-6-phosphate and diminution of availability of products e.g. ribose, and thereby affect purine, pyrimidine and nucleic acid biosynthesis. 

The elucidation of the last steps of pyrimidine synthesis de novo came from the study of Hurlbert and Potter [107] which showed that uridine nucleotides were intermediates in the conversion of orotate to pyrimidines of nucleic acids. UMP was the first of the three uridine 5 -phosphates to become labelled in this process [108]. The synthesis of UMP from orotate takes place in two steps the stoichiometric condensation [109] of orotic acid with 5-phosphoribosyl-l-pyrophosphate (PRPP) to form orotidine 5 -phosphate and its subsequent irreversible decarboxylation to UMP ... 

Harber and Maddocks (79) discuss the separation of purine analog from nucleic acid derivatives on ECTEOLA-cellulose TLC and described the isolation of azathioprine, an imidazole derivative of 6-mercaptopurine to which it is con verted in vivo, and 6-MP from a mixture of purines and pyrimidines. 

The 8-aza analogs of purine bases were the first to be studied among all the aza analogs of nucleic acid bases (as early as 1945). Before that time the chemistry of these substances had not been treated in detail from any aspect. Thus the entire chemistry of the u-triazolo [4,5-d]pyrimidines was developed only in connection with the study of antimetabolites of nucleic acid components. Therefore all the papers involved are largely of preparative character and only rarely discuss. theoretical points. 

The nucleic acids DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) are biological polymers that act as chemical carriers of an organism s genetic information. Enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of nucleic acids yields nucleotides, the monomer units from which RNA and DNA are constructed. Further enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of the nucleotides yields nucleosides plus phosphate. Nucleosides, in turn, consist of a purine or pyrimidine base linked to Cl of an aldopentose sugar—ribose in RNA and 2-deoxyribose in DNA. The nucleotides are joined by phosphate links between the 5 phosphate of one nucleotide and the 3 hydroxyl on the sugar of another nucleotide. 

This series in heterocychc chemistry is being introduced to collectively make available critically and comprehensively reviewed hterature scattered in various journals as papers and review articles. All sorts of heterocyclic compounds originating from synthesis, natural products, marine products, insects, etc. will be covered. Several heterocyclic compounds play a significant role in maintaining life. Blood constituents hemoglobin and purines, as well as pyrimidines, are constituents of nucleic acid (DNA and RNA). Several amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, alkaloids, antibiotics, etc. are also heterocyclic compounds that are essential for life. Heterocyclic compounds are widely used in clinical practice as drugs, but all applications of heterocyclic medicines can not be discussed in detail. In addition to such applications, heterocyclic compounds also find several applications in the plastics industry, in photography as sensitizers and developers, and the in dye industry as dyes, etc. 

Human tissues can synthesize purines and pyrimidines from amphibolic intermediates. Ingested nucleic acids and nucleotides, which therefore are dietarily nonessential, are degraded in the intestinal tract to mononucleotides, which may be absorbed or converted to purine and pyrimidine bases. The purine bases are then oxidized to uric acid, which may be absorbed and excreted in the urine. While little or no dietary purine or pyrimidine is incorporated into tissue nucleic acids, injected compounds are incorporated. The incorporation of injected [ H] thymidine into newly synthesized DNA thus is used to measure the rate of DNA synthesis. 

Ingested nucleic acids are degraded to purines and pyrimidines. New purines and pyrimidines are formed from amphibohc intermediates and thus are dietarily nonessential. 

The anticodon region consists of seven nucleotides, and it recognizes the three-letter codon in mRNA (Figure 38-2). The sequence read from the 3 to 5 direction in that anticodon loop consists of a variable base-modified purine-XYZ-pyrimidine-pyrimidine-5h Note that this direction of reading the anticodon is 3 " to 5 whereas the genetic code in Table 38—1 is read 5 to 3 since the codon and the anticodon loop of the mRNA and tRNA molecules, respectively, are antipar-allel in their complementarity just like all other inter-molecular interactions between nucleic acid strands. 

The photochemistry of the polynucleotides has been elucidated primarily by studies of the photochemical behavior of the individual pyrimidine and purine bases (the ribose and phosphate groups would not be expected to undergo photochemical reactions in this wavelength range). These studies have shown the pyrimidines (cytosine and thymine) to be roughly ten times more sensitive to UV than the purines (adenine and guanine.) Thus we would expect most of the photochemistry of the nucleic acids to result from the action of light on the pyrimidines. 

A further unusual feature of the matrix-dependent polycondensation lies in the character of the nucleobases themselves. Purine mononucleotides undergo polycondensation, in good yields, at complementary matrices consisting of pyrimidine polymers. However, the synthesis of pyrimidine oligonucleotides from their mononucleotides at purine matrices is not effective. This important fact means that a pyrimidine-rich matrix leads to a purine-rich nucleic acid, which is itself not suitable to act as a matrix. This phenomenon also occurs when matrices are used which contain both basic species, i.e., purines and pyrimidines. An increase in the amount of purine in a matrix leads to a clear decrease in its effectiveness (Inoue and Orgel, 1983). However, the authors note self-critically that the condensation agent used cannot be considered to be prebiotic in nature. 

For various reasons, the generalizations mentioned above must be regarded as strictly provisional. Analyses utilizing formic acid indicate the presence of more than one phosphorus atom per purine or pyrimidine residue. This discrepancy, it is pointed out, could equally well result from an apparent deficiency of bases, due to error in the analytical technique.160 It is also necessary to consider that some nucleic acids are now known to contain more bases than was previously realized. Thus, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-cytosine is present in various viruses,181-182 and 5-methylcytosine occurs in various animal and plant deoxyribonucleic acids but is absent from those of microbial origin.17-160-1M- 184- 186 Certain microbial deoxyribonucleic acids also contain 6-methylaminopurine.186a Various bacteriophage deoxyribonucleic acids have been found to contain a component which is believed to consist of a D-glucoside186b of 5 -(hydroxymethyl)cytidylic acid. 

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