Regulation of de novo purine biosynthesis in normal and 8-azaguanine-resistant Chinese hamster cells Effect of glutamine starvation

Azaguanine-resistant mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells were isolated following mutagenesis with ICR-170G. Of the eight mutant isolates examined, only one, Ag-5 had detectable hypoxanthine(guanine)phosphoribosyltransferase activity. Under normal conditions of growth, de novo purine biosynthesis in the mutants was not significantly different from wild type. However, when the cultures were starved for glutamine over a 2 h period before measuring 5′-phosphoribosyl formylglycinamide (a relative measure of de novo purine biosynthesis), elevated levels of 5′-phosphoribosyl formylglycinamide accumulated in some of the mutants, and decreased levels in wild type and Ag-5. The level of purine biosynthesis could be related to the levels of glutamine in the pregrowth medium. The rate of purine biosynthesis correlated with 5-phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate levels, which were enhanced in the mutant (Ag-C) following the starvation period. No alterations were found in levels of 5-phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase or glutamine synthetase. The extent of feedback inhibition was normal in both mutant and wild type cells. These data suggest that the hypoxanthine (guanine) phosphoribosyltransferase locus is a regulatory gene.     

Regulation of de novo purine biosynthesis by methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase in neuroblastoma

5-Formyltetrahydrofolate (5-formylTHF) is the only folate derivative that does not serve as a cofactor in folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism. Two metabolic roles have been ascribed to this folate derivative. It has been proposed to 1) serve as a storage form of folate because it is chemically stable and accumulates in seeds and spores and 2) regulate folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism by inhibiting folate-dependent enzymes, specifically targeting folate-dependent de novo purine biosynthesis. Methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (MTHFS) is the only enzyme that metabolizes 5-formylTHF and catalyzes its ATP-dependent conversion to 5,10-methenylTHF. This reaction determines intracellular 5-formylTHF concentrations and converts 5-formylTHF into an enzyme cofactor. The regulation and metabolic role of MTHFS in one-carbon metabolism was investigated in vitro and in human neuroblastoma cells. Steady-state kinetic studies revealed that 10-formylTHF, which exists in chemical equilibrium with 5,10-methenylTHF, acts as a tight binding inhibitor of mouse MTHFS. [6R]-10-formylTHF inhibited MTHFS with a K(i) of 150 nM, and [6R,S]-10-formylTHF triglutamate inhibited MTHFS with a K(i) of 30 nm. MTHFS is the first identified 10-formylTHF tight-binding protein. Isotope tracer studies in neuroblastoma demonstrate that MTHFS enhances de novo purine biosynthesis, indicating that MTHFS-bound 10-formylTHF facilitates de novo purine biosynthesis. Feedback metabolic regulation of MTHFS by 10-formylTHF indicates that 5-formylTHF can only accumulate in the presence of 10-formylTHF, providing the first evidence that 5-formylTHF is a storage form of excess formylated folates in mammalian cells. The sequestration of 10-formylTHF by MTHFS may explain why de novo purine biosynthesis is protected from common disruptions in the folate-dependent one-carbon network.     

Carbocyclic substrates for de novo purine biosynthesis

The carbocyclic analogues of phosphoribosylamine, glycinamide ribonucleotide, and formylglycinamide ribonucleotide have been prepared as the racemates. Carbocyclic phosphoribosylamine was utilized as a substrate by the monofunctional glycinamide ribonucleotide synthetase from Escherichia coli as well as the glycinamide ribonucleotide synthetase activity of the eucaryotic trifunctional enzyme of de novo purine biosynthesis. Furthermore, carbocyclic glycinamide ribonucleotide was processed in the reverse reaction catalyzed by these enzymes. In addition, carbocyclic formylglycinamide ribonucleotide was converted, by E. coli formylglycinamide ribonucleotide synthetase, to carbocyclic formylglycinamidine ribonucleotide, which was accepted as a substrate by the aminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthetase activity of the trifunctional enzyme. This study has afforded carbocyclic substrate analogues, in particular for the chemically labile phosphoribosyl amine, for the initial steps of de novo purine biosynthesis.     

Cyanopyrazoles as analogs of purine precursors--I. Inhibitory effect on purine biosynthesis de novo

The in vitro inhibition of purine biosynthesis de novo by a series of cyanopyrazoles was studied. At concentration 1 mM trichloromethyl analogs (3(5)-amino-4-cyano-5(3)-trichloromethylpyrazole and N-hydroxyethyl-3(5)-amino-4-cyano-5(3)-trichloromethylpyrazole) were found to inhibit IMP synthesis 80 and 30% respectively. GAR synthesis was inhibited at a lower degree at the same range of concentrations. The compounds demonstrated a similar pattern of inhibition of the last steps, e.g. AICAR formylation and cyclization as found on the whole pathway.     

Regulation of purine synthesis de novo in human fibroblasts by purine nucleotides and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate

Previous studies of purine nucleotide synthesis de novo have suggested that major regulation of the rate of the pathway is affected at either the phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PP-Rib-P) synthetase reaction or the amidophosphoribosyltransferase (amido PRT) reaction, or both. We studied control of purine synthesis de novo in cultured normal, hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT)-deficient, and PP-Rib-P synthetase-superactive human fibroblasts by measuring concentrations and rates of synthesis of PP-Rib-P and purine nucleotide end products, proposed effectors of regulation, during inhibition of the pathway. Incubation of cells for 90 min with 0.1 mM azaserine, a glutamine antagonist which specifically blocked the pathway at the level of conversion of formylglycinamide ribotide, resulted in a 5-16% decrease in purine nucleoside triphosphate concentrations but no consistent alteration in generation of PP-Rib-P. During this treatment, however, rates of the early steps of the pathway were increased slightly (9-15%) in normal and HGPRT-deficient strains, more markedly (32-60%) in cells with catalytically superactive PP-Rib-P synthetases, and not at all in fibroblasts with purine nucleotide feedback-resistant PP-Rib-P synthetases. In contrast, glutamine deprivation, which inhibited the pathway at the amido PRT reaction, resulted in time-dependent nucleoside triphosphate pool depletion (26-43% decrease at 24 h) accompanied by increased rates of PP-Rib-P generation and, upon readdition of glutamine, substantial increments in rates of purine synthesis de novo. Enhanced PP-Rib-P generation during glutamine deprivation was greatest in cells with regulatory defects in PP-Rib-P synthetase (2-fold), but purine synthesis in these cells was stimulated only 1.4-fold control rates by glutamine readdition. Stimulation of these processes in normal and HGPRT-deficient cells and in cells with PP-Rib-P synthetase catalytic defects was, respectively: 1.5 and 2.0-fold; 1.5 and 1.7-fold; and 1.6 and 4.1-fold. These studies support the following concepts. 1) Rates of purine synthesis de novo are regulated at both the PP-Rib-P synthetase and amido PRT reactions by end products, with the latter reaction more sensitive to small changes in purine nucleotide inhibitor concentrations. 2) PP-Rib-P exerts its role as a major regulator of purine synthetic rate by virtue of its interaction with nucleotide inhibitors to determine the activity of amido PRT. 3) Activation of amido PRT by PP-Rib-P is nearly maximal at base line in fibroblasts with regulatory defects in PP-Rib-P synthetase.     

Some regulatory properties of purine biosynthesis de novo in long-term cultures of epithelial-like rat liver cells

De novo synthesis of purine nucleotides and some regulatory properties of this pathway were studied in cultured epithelial-like rat liver cells. It was found that the physiological 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate (P-Rib-PP) concentration in these cells is limiting for purine synthesis de novo. Increase of P-Rib-PP availability, achieved by activation of P-Rib-PP synthetase at high P_i concentration, resulted in acceleration of purine synthesis. The effects of increasing cellular ribose 5-phosphate (Rib-5-P availability, by methylene blue-induced acceleration of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, on P-Rib-PP availability and on the rate of the novo purine synthesis were also studied. It was found that at the P_i concentration prevailing in the tissue at extracellular physiological P_i concentration, Rib-5-P availability is saturating for P-Rib-PP generation and therefore also for purine synthesis.     

A mutant of CHO-K1 cells deficient in two nonsequential steps of de novo purine biosynthesis

An unusual new purine-requiring mutant, Ade^?P_AB, of Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1) is described. Ade^?P_AB will grow in medium supplemented with hypoxanthine, adenine, or aminoimidazole carboxamide. Ade^?P_AB fails to show genetic complementation with either Ade^?A, defective in amidophosphoribosyltransferase (E.C. 2.4.2.14), or Ade^?B, defective in phosphoribosylformylglycinamidine FGAM) synthetase (E.C. 6.3.5.3.), but will complement all five of our other hypoxanthine-requiring Ade^? complementation groups. Analysis of purine synthesis in wild-type, mutant, and revertant cells and analysis of relevant enzyme activities in cell-free extracts prepared from these cells demonstrates that Ade^?P_AB is similar to Ade^?B in that it has lost FGAM synthetase activity, and is similar to Ade^?A in that it has lost glutamine-dependent amidophosphoribosyltransferase activity. Unlike Ade^?A, however, Ade^?P_AB retains the ability to synthesize phosphoribosylamine (PRA), the product of the amidophosphoribosyltransferase reaction, if NH₄Cl is substituted for glutamine as the nitrogen donor. Moreover, partial revertants of Ade^?P_AB can apparently synthesize sufficient purines for growth using the NH₄Cl-dependent reaction. The available evidence indicates that neither a double mutation nor a deletion is probable in Ade^?P_AB. We discuss the relevance of these observations for our understanding of both the regulation of purine biosynthesis in mammalian cells and the structural organization of the enzymes defective in Ade^?P_AB and the genes coding for these enzymes.     

Phosphatidylserine biosynthesis in cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells. I. Inhibition of de novo phosphatidylserine biosynthesis by exogenous phosphatidylserine and its efficient incorporation

The effect of phosphatidylserine exogenously added to the medium on de novo biosynthesis of phosphatidylserine was investigated in cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells. When cells were cultured for several generations in medium supplemented with phosphatidylserine and 32Pi, the incorporation of 32Pi into cellular phosphatidylserine was remarkably inhibited, the degree of inhibition being dependent upon the concentration of added phosphatidylserine. 32Pi uptake into cellular phosphatidylethanolamine was also partly reduced by the addition of exogenous phosphatidylserine, consistent with the idea that phosphatidylethanolamine is biosynthesized via decarboxylation of phosphatidylserine. However, incorporation of 32Pi into phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylinositol was not significantly affected. In contrast, the addition of either phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, phosphatidylethanolamine, or phosphatidylinositol to the medium did not inhibit endogenous biosynthesis of the corresponding phospholipid. Radiochemical and chemical analyses of the cellular phospholipid composition revealed that phosphatidylserine in cells grown with 80 microM phosphatidylserine was almost entirely derived from the added phospholipid. Phosphatidylserine uptake was also directly determined by using [3H]serine-labeled phospholipid. Pulse and pulse-chase experiments with L-[U-14C] serine showed that when cells were cultured with 80 microM phosphatidylserine, the rate of synthesis of phosphatidylserine was reduced 3-5-fold whereas the turnover of newly synthesized phosphatidylserine was normal. Enzyme assaying of extracts prepared from cells grown with and without phosphatidylserine indicated that the inhibition of de novo phosphatidylserine biosynthesis by the added phosphatidylserine appeared not to be caused by a reduction in the level of the enzyme involved in the base-exchange reaction between phospholipids and serine. These results demonstrate that exogenous phosphatidylserine can be efficiently incorporated into Chinese hamster ovary cells and utilized for membrane biogenesis, endogenous phosphatidylserine biosynthesis thereby being suppressed.     

Regulation of purine biosynthesis in G1 phase-arrested mammalian cells

The effects of G1 phase growth arrest on purine biosynthesis were studied in cultured S49 T lymphoma cells. Incubations of wildtype S49 cells for 18 hr with dibutyryl cyclic AMP or forskolin, two agents which induced G1 arrest, reduced the rates of purine biosynthesis by 95%. Time course and concentration dependence studies indicated that the decrease in rates of purine biosynthesis correlated with the extent of G1 phase arrest. Similar studies with somatic cell mutants deficient in some component of cyclic AMP action or metabolism indicated that the depression in purine synthetic rates required G1 arrest and did not result from cell death. Rates of RNA and DNA synthesis were also markedly diminished in the growth arrested cells. Measurements of purine rates in the presence of azaserine indicated that the block in purine biosynthesis was prior to the formation of phosphoribosylformylglycinamide. Additionally, the activities of adenylosuccinate synthetase and IMP dehydrogenase were diminished in G1 arrested cells. The levels of all controlling enzymes, substrates, and cofactors, however, were not diminished in G1 arrested cells. Despite diminished rates of purine biosynthesis, the amounts of intracellular nucleotides in G1 cells were equivalent to those in exponentially growing cells. However, the concentrations of intracellular nucleotides were 30-50% higher in the growth arrested cells. These results suggested that perturbations in the consumption of nucleotides via inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis have profound effects on the purine pathway and indicated the importance of feedback inhibition by nucleotides in the regulation of purine synthesis in situ.     

Inhibition of de novo purine biosynthesis and interconversion by 6-methylpurine in Escherichia coli

The inhibition of Escherichia coli strain B and strain W-11 by 6-methylpurine depended on the formation of 6-methylpurine ribonucleotide by the action of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (AMP: pyrophosphate phosphoribosyltransferase, EC 2.4.2.7). 6-Methylpurine ribonucleotide inhibited the de novo synthesis of purines, presumably via pseudofeedback inhibition of phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase (EC 2.4.2.14). The same mechanism accounted for its inhibition of adenylosuccinate synthetase [IMP: l-aspartate ligase (GDP), EC 6.3.4.4]. Adenine and 6-methylaminopurine prevented inhibition by competing for the action of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase. In addition, adenine reversed this inhibition by replenishing the AMP to bypass both sites of inhibition. Nonproliferating suspensions of strain B-94, which lacked adenylosuccinate lyase (EC 4.3.2.2), converted exogenous hypoxanthine and aspartate to succinoadenine derivatives which accumulated in the medium. Compounds which inhibited adenylosuccinate synthetase inhibited accumulation of the succinoadenine derivatives. A method was described for the isolation of mutants which potentially possessed an altered adenylosuccinate synthetase.     

Evidence that the folate-requiring enzymes of de novo purine biosynthesis are encoded by individual mRNAs

Isolation of the mRNAs encoding for the three folate-requiring enzymes involved in de novo purine biosynthesis followed by their in vitro translation resulted in three separate proteins electrophoretically identical with those previously isolated. The three enzymes are glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase, and 5,10-methenyl-, 5,10-methylene-, and 10-formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase. Thus these enzymes do not appear to be derived from large multifunctional proteins that are then subject to proteolysis in vivo or during in vitro purification. The levels of these enzymatic activities were increased by approximately 2-fold after raising the concentration of protein in the chicken's diet. The observed response is similar to that noted for glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase, the presumed rate-limiting enzymatic activity for this pathway. For 5-amino-imidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase and the trifunctional synthetase but not glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase the increase in enzymatic activity correlates with higher mRNA levels.     

Metal stopping reagents facilitate discontinuous activity assays of the de novo purine biosynthesis enzyme PurE

The conversion of 5-aminoimidazole ribonucleotide (AIR) to 4-carboxy-AIR (CAIR) represents an unusual divergence in purine biosynthesis: microbes and nonmetazoan eukaryotes use class I PurEs while animals use class II PurEs. Class I PurEs are therefore a potential antimicrobial target; however, no enzyme activity assay is suitable for high throughput screening (HTS). Here we report a simple chemical quench that fixes the PurE substrate/product ratio for 24 h, as assessed by the Bratton–Marshall assay (BMA) for diazotizable amines. The ZnSO₄ stopping reagent is proposed to chelate CAIR, enabling delayed analysis of this acid-labile product by BMA or other HTS methods.     

Phenotypes and circadian rhythm in utilization of formate in purine nucleotide biosynthesis de novo in adult humans

AimsFolate coenzymes and dependent enzymes introduce one carbon units at positions 2 (C₂) and 8 (C₈) of the purine ring during de novo biosynthesis. Formate is one source of one-carbon units. Although much is known about lower organisms, little data exists describing formate utilization for purine biosynthesis in humans.Main methodsMass-spectrometric analysis of urinary uric acid, the final purine catabolite, following 1.0 g oral doses of sodium [¹³C] formate was performed and detected ¹³C enrichment at C₂ and C₈ separately.Key findingsThree phenotypes were suggested. One incorporates ¹³C 0.72 to 2.0% into C₂ versus only 0 to 0.07% into C₈. Another incorporates only 0 to 0.05% ¹³C into C₂ or C₈. A third phenotype incorporates ¹³C into C₈ (0.15%) but C₂ incorporation (0.44%) is still greater. In subjects who incorporated ¹³C formate into C₂, peak enrichment occurred in voids from 8–12 h (24 h clock) suggesting a circadian rhythm.SignificanceEvidence that mammalian liver introduces C₈ and that C₂ is introduced in a non-hepatic site would explain our results. Our data are not similar to those in non-mammalian organisms or cells in culture and are not consistent with the hypothesis that formate from folate-dependent metabolism in mitochondria is a major one carbon source for purine biosynthesis. Timing of peak ¹³C enrichment at C₂ corresponds to maximal DNA synthesis in human bone marrow. Phenotypes may explain the efficacy (or lack of) of certain anticancer and immunosuppressive drugs.