Uracil nucleosides pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase

Deoxyuridine and thymidine are substrates for pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylases, but deoxycytidine (and cytidine) is generally regarded as being inert to phosphorolysis (7) Tarris demonstration of deoxycytidine formation from cytosine in extracts of fish milt is an exception to this generalization (8). Catabolism of C3rtosine nucleosides is initiated by deamination to form uracil nucleosides which can be phosphorolyzed. 

A study of the mechanism of uracil incorporation into uridine phosphates was carried out in the Ehrlich ascites tumor, a tissue which utilized uracil as well as small molecule precimsors for nucleic acid formation (312). Uridine 5 -phosphate (UMP) was formed from uracil, ATP, and ribose 1-phosphate (R-l-P). Uridine was an intermediate in the formation of the nucleotide and was formed by the reaction of uracil and R-l-P with pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase (313, 314). Nucleoside kinase reacted the nucleoside with ATP to form UMP. The sequence is ... 

The salvage activities of T. foetus and T. vaginalis also differ (22,77). Unlike T. foetus, the level of uracil PRTase activity is very low. Uracil is converted into uridine by a uridine phosphorylase uridine is then phosphorylated by a uridine phosphotransferase to UMP (Fig. 6.15). Cytidine and thymidine also are converted into their nucleotide monophosphates by phosphotransferase activities. There is no detectable pyrimidine nucleoside kinase activity and the only significant interconversion among salvaged pyrimidines is catalyzed by cytidine deaminase to form uridine. 

Pyrimidine ribonucleotides, like those of purines, may be synthesized de novo from amino acids and other small molecules (Chapter 11). Preformed pyrimidine bases and their ribonucleoside derivatives, derived from the diet of animals or found in the environment of cells, may be converted to ribonucleotides via nucleoside phosphorylases and nucleoside kinases. In some cells a more direct pyrimidine phosphoribosyltransferase pathway has also been recognized (Chapter 12). Ribonucleotides are catabolized by dephosphorylation, deamination, and cleavage of the glycosidic bond, to uracil. Uracil may be either oxidatively or reductively cleaved, depending on the organism involved, and can be converted to CO and NH (Chapter 13). 

However, for adenine, guanine, and uracil, the dominant route of anabolism is by way of their ribonucleotide derivatives and traffic along the deoxyribosidic route is not ordinarily significant. Because cytosine is not a substrate for nucleoside phosphorylases, incorporation by the phos-phorylase-kinase route is not possible for this base. The other pyrimidine base of DNA, thymine, is poorly anabolized by both animal and bacterial cells, in spite of the fact that most cells possess thymidine phosphorylase, the action of which is readily reversible. This suggests that ordinarily cellular supplies of deoxyribose 1-phosphate are not available for base anabolism. Experiments are cited below in which it was demonstrated that a significant contribution to the biogenesis of deoxyribose of DNA in E. colt cells did not occur by a route other than ribonucleotide reduction. 

On the other hand, as seen in this chapter and in earlier chapters, the formation of phosphates of adenine (e.g., AMP, ADP, and ATP), guanidine (e.g., GTP), cytosine (e.g.,cytidine monophosphate [CMP]), uracil (e.g., uridine monophosphate [UMP]), and dTMP have all involved the carbohydrate scaffold as a building block for the formation of the finished heterocyclic base (purine or pyrimidine). It is also important to realize that, as part of nucleotide salvage pathways, it has been found that a family of enzymes collectively known as phosphorylases serves to catalyze reactions between free bases and phosphate esters of carbohydrates (and related compounds). For example, as shown in Scheme 14.13, the generalized enzyme, purine nucleoside phosphorylase (EC 2.4.2.1), catalyzes the conversion of a purine with... 

The kinase step enables cells to utilize nucleosides from their milieu for the incorporation into nucleotide coenzymes and polynucleotides, and has the obvious value that synthesis de novo is spared. The kinase reaction, operating in sequence with the readily reversible uridine phosphorylase reaction, also provides a route by which uracil may enter into the pyrimidine nucleotide pool. 

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