Effect of testosterone on purine synthesis de novo in rat perineal muscle in vivo

We examined in vivo the influence of testosterone on purine synthetis de nov, in the levator ani and gastrocnemius muscles of the rat. The hypoxanthine, adenine and guanine contents and the rate of incorporation of [¹⁴C]formate into these purine bases were determined in castrated adult and prepubertal rats (groups 1 and 2) both before and after orchiectomy and, in the second case, at different times after testosterone treatment. Substantially similar behavior was found in both groups, with some specific differences. The results showed an increase in the basal levels after castration (except for a dramatic decrease in adenine and a rise in the Gua/Ade molar ratio in prepubertal rats) and a return to basal levels after hormone administration, which was also accompanied by variations in the Gua/Ade molar ratio. The kinetics of purine nucleotide synthesis de novo and, spefically, of the overall reactions: IMP formation from PRib-PP, IMP → AMP and IMP → GMP, were followed by evaluating the incorporation curves of [¹⁴C]formate into hypoxanthine, adenine and guanine. Our results show that testosterone administration enhanced the incorporation rate and gave characteristic patterns: a diphasic cyclic oscillation of the Ade values in adult castrated rats, and single peaks having a specific shape in the other cases. The Gua/Ade labeling ratio was unchaned in castrated rats and increased in both groups during ther first 5 days after testosterone treatment, after which values even fell below normal; in most cases, values overlapped the pattern of the Gua/Ade molar ratio. The specific profile of the curves indicated that testosterone initially accelerated the turnover of guanylic acid and in the second phase re-established the normal behavior and ratio of AMP and GMP formation. These results indicate that the ‘inosinic branch point’ was subject to regulation by testosterone. The profiles of the incorporation curves and of the Gua/Ade ratio were indicative of a primary and secondary response to hormone action.     

Characterization of purine nucleotide metabolism in primary rat muscle cultures

The synthesis and metabolic fate of purine nucleotides were studied, employing labeled precursors, in primary rat muscle cultures. The cultures were found to produce purine nucleotides, by de novo and salvage pathways, both exhibiting dependence on cellular availability of substrate 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate (PPRibP). Depletion of cellular PPRibP decelerated the rate of purine synthesis, whereas increasing PPRibP generation by high Pi concentration in the incubation medium, accelerated purine synthesis. Ribose accelerated purine synthesis, indicating that ribose 5-phosphate availability in the cultured muscle is limiting for PPRibP synthesis. The study in the muscle cultures of the metabolic fate if IMP formed from [14C]formate and that of nucleotides formed from labeled purine bases, revealed that the main flow in the nucleotide interconversions pathways is from AMP to IMP. The flow from IMP to GMP and to AMP appeared to be of a lesser magnitude and virtually no flow could be detected from GMP to IMP. The greatest proportion of radioactivity of purine nucleotides following synthesis by either de novo or salvage pathways, accumulated in IMP, reflecting the relative rates of flows between the various nucleotides and probably also a relatively low, or inhibited activity of the IMP nucleotidase. The results suggest that primary muscle cultures are a plausible model for the study of the role of purine metabolism in muscle work.     

Characterization of purine nucleotide metabolism in primary rat cardiomyocyte cultures

Primary rat cardiomyocyte cultures were utilized as a model for the study of purine nucleotide metabolism in the heart muscle, especially in connection with the mechanisms operating for the conservation of adenine nucleotides. The cultures exhibited capacity to produce purine nucleotides from nonpurine molecules (de novo synthesis), as well as from preformed purines (salvage synthesis). The conversion of adenosine to AMP, catalyzed by adenosine kinase, appears to be the most important physiological salvage pathway of adenine nucleotide synthesis in the cardiomyocytes. The study of the metabolic fate of IMP formed from [14C]formate or [14C]hypoxanthine and that of AMP formed from [14C]adenine or [14C]adenosine revealed that in the cardiomyocyte the main flow in the nucleotide interconversion pathways is from IMP to AMP, whereas the flux from AMP to IMP appeared to be markedly slower. Following synthesis from labeled precursors by either de novo or salvage pathways, most of the radioactivity in purine nucleotides accumulated in adenine nucleotides, and only a small proportion of it resided in IMP. The results suggest that the main pathway of AMP degradation in the cardiomyocyte proceeds through adenosine rather than through IMP. About 90% of the total radioactivity in purines effluxed from the cells during de novo synthesis from [14C]formate or following prelabeling of adenine nucleotides with [14C]adenine were found to reside in hypoxanthine. The activities in cell extracts of AMP 5'-nucleotidase and IMP 5'-nucleotidase, which catalyze nucleotide degradation, and of AMP deaminase, a key enzyme in the purine nucleotide cycle, were low. The nucleotidase activity resembles, and that of the AMP deaminase contrasts the respective enzyme activities in extracts of cultured skeletal-muscle myotubes. The results indicate that in the cardiomyocyte, in contrast to the myotube, the main mechanism operating for conservation of nucleotides is prompt phosphorylation of AMP, rather than operation of the purine nucleotide cycle. The primary cardiomyocyte cultures are a plausible model for the study of purine nucleotide metabolism in the heart muscle.     

Characterization of purine nucleotide metabolism in cultured fibroblasts with deficiency of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase and with superactivity of phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase

Cultured fibroblasts with hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) deficiency exhibited acceleration of purine synthesis de novo, absence of salvage IMP synthesis from hypoxanthine, but normal total IMP synthesis. Cells with phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase superactivity exhibited acceleration of both de novo and salvage IMP synthesis and increased total IMP synthesis. The study of mutant cells furnished evidence that in normal as well as mutant cells, GMP and AMP are not converted to each other in significant amounts and that these nucleotides are not degraded by nucleotidases. Purine nucleotide degradation in fibroblasts occurs mainly by dephosphorylation of IMP. In HGPRT-containing cells, salvage IMP synthesis from preformed and exogenously supplied hypoxanthine is the main source for IMP production.     

Purine metabolism and urate biosynthesis in isolated chicken hepatocytes

The metabolism of some purine compounds to urate and their effects on de novo urate synthesis in chicken hepatocytes were investigated. The purines, listed in descending order of rates of catabolism to urate, were hypoxanthine, xanthine, inosine, guanosine, guanine, IMP, GMP, adenosine, AMP, and adenine. During a 1-h incubation period, conversion to urate accounted for more than 80% of the total quantities of guanine, guanosine, and inosine metabolized, but only 42% of the adenosine and 23% of the adenine metabolism. Adenine, adenosine, and AMP inhibited de novo urate synthesis [( 14C]formate incorporation into urate), whereas the other purines, especially guanine, guanosine, and GMP, stimulated de novo urate synthesis. When hepatocytes were incubated with glutamine and adenosine, AMP, guanine, guanosine, or GMP, the rates of de novo urate synthesis were lower than the additive effects of glutamine and the purine in separate incubations. Increasing phosphate concentrations had no effect on urate synthesis in the absence of added purines but, in combination with adenosine, AMP, guanosine, or GMP, increased urate synthesis. These results indicate that the ratio of adenine to guanine nucleotides and the interaction between substrates and purine nucleotides are involved in the regulation of urate biosynthesis in chicken liver.     

Alterations in purine nucleotide metabolism during muscle differentiation in vitro

Pathways of purine nucleotide metabolism affecting the availability of ATP in the muscle tissue were studied in differentiating rat muscle cultures. The rate of de novo purine nucleotide synthesis and of AMP deamination were found to increase markedly with cell differentiation, but the rate of IMP dephosphorylation was similarly low in both myoblasts and contracting fibers. The above differentiation-associated alterations in purine nucleotide metabolism conform with the greater need for ATP as a source of energy in the contracting myotubes.     

Regulation of purine nucleotide synthesis in human B lymphoblasts with both hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase superactivity.

Human B lymphoblast lines severely deficient in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) were selected for resistance to 6-thioguanine from cloned normal and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PP-Rib-P) synthetase-superactive cell lines and were compared with their respective parental cell lines with regard to growth and PP-Rib-P and purine nucleotide metabolism. During blockade of purine synthesis de novo with 6-methylthioinosine or aminopterin, inhibition of growth of all HGPRT-deficient cell lines was refractory to addition of Ade at concentrations which restored substantial growth to parental cell lines. Ade-resistant inhibition of growth of parental lines by 6-methylthioinosine, however, occurred during Ado deaminase inhibition. Insufficient generation of IMP (and ultimately guanylates) to support growth of lymphoblasts lacking HGPRT activity and blocked in purine synthesis de novo best explained these findings, implying that a major route of interconversion of AMP to IMP involves the reaction sequence: AMP----Ado----Ino----Hyp----IMP. PP-Rib-P generation and purine nucleoside triphosphate pools were unchanged by introduction of HGPRT deficiency into normal lymphoblast lines, in agreement with the view that accelerated purine synthesis de novo in this deficiency results from increased availability of PP-Rib-P for the pathway. Cell lines with dual enzyme defects did not differ from PP-Rib-P synthetase-superactive parental lines in rates of PP-Rib-P and purine synthesis despite 5-6-fold increases in PP-Rib-P concentrations, excretion of nearly 50% of newly synthesized purines, and diminished GTP concentrations. Fixed rates of purine synthesis de novo in PP-Rib-P synthetase-superactive cells appeared to reflect saturation of the rate-limiting amidophosphoribosyltransferase reaction for PP-Rib-P. In combination with accelerated purine excretion, increased channeling of newly formed purines into adenylates, and impaired conversion of AMP to IMP, fixed rates of purine synthesis de novo may condition cell lines with defects in HGPRT and PP-Rib-P synthetase to depletion of GTP with consequent growth retardation.     

The hormonal regulation of purine nucleotide turnover. Influence of testosterone in rat liver

An influence of testosterone on de novo purine nucleotide synthesis has been demonstrated in rat liver of adult and prepubertal castrated rats, showing that the action of the hormone is not limited to sexual organs. Castration accelerated the turnover of purine nucleotides in adults rats and reduced it in prepubertal castrated rats. Administration of testosterone tended to restore normality in both cases with opposite mechanisms, lowering the reaction rates in the first group, enhancing them in the second one. An action of the hormone on the inosinic branch-point and specifically on GMP synthesis, was evident, which was again different according to the age of the animal. The observed changes in purine nucleotide metabolism could be responsible for variations in RNA and DNA metabolism, in cellular size and number--which probably occur in the liver--after orchiectomy and following androgen administration.     

De novo purine synthesis in human lymphocytes. Partial co-purification of the enzymes and some properties of the pathway

A partially purified enzyme extract from lectin-transformed human peripheral blood lymphocytes synthesized purine nucleotides de novo. Although the relatively lower specific activity of the pathway compared with that in the avian liver preparation previously described (Rowe, P. B., McCairns, E., Madsen, G., Sauer, D., and Elliott, H. (1978) J. Biol. Chem. 253, 7711-7721) limited the extent of purification, a number of properties were established: (i) Ammonia could be utilized as readily as glutamine for the synthesis of phosphoribosylamine but only glutamine provided N-3 of the purine ring; (ii) in the presence of either GTP or NAD, AMP or GMP were synthesized; (iii) purine synthesis was inhibited at the level of phosphoribosylamine synthesis by both AMP and GMP, irrespective of whether ammonia or glutamine was the N donor; (iv) while the synthesis of AMP and GMP from IMP was self-regulated, GTP also appeared to be an inhibitor of the synthesis of GMP from IMP; (v) amidophosphoribosyltransferase was isolated from both transformed and nontransformed cells in a low molecular weight form which was converted to a high molecular weight form in the presence of GMP; and (vi) no evidence was obtained for the existence of a classical multienzyme complex for purine synthesis.     

Structural and Biochemical Characterization of Human Adenylosuccinate Lyase (ADSL) and the R303C ADSL Deficiency-Associated Mutation

Adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder, which causes a defect in purine metabolism resulting in neurological and physiological symptoms. ADSL executes two nonsequential steps in the de novo synthesis of AMP: the conversion of phosphoribosylsuccinyl-aminoimidazole carboxamide (SAICAR) to phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxamide, which occurs in the de novo synthesis of IMP, and the conversion of adenylosuccinate to AMP, which occurs in the de novo synthesis of AMP and also in the purine nucleotide cycle, using the same active site. Mutation of ADSL's arginine 303 to a cysteine is known to lead to ADSL deficiency. Interestingly, unlike other mutations leading to ADSL deficiency, the R303C mutation has been suggested to more significantly affect the enzyme's ability to catalyze the conversion of succinyladenosine monophosphate than that of SAICAR to their respective products. To better understand the causation of disease due to the R303C mutation, as well as to gain insights into why the R303C mutation potentially has a disproportional decrease in activity toward its substrates, the wild type (WT) and the R303C mutant of ADSL were investigated enzymatically and thermodynamically. Additionally, the X-ray structures of ADSL in its apo form as well as with the R303C mutation were elucidated, providing insight into ADSL's cooperativity. By utilizing this information, a model for the interaction between ADSL and SAICAR is proposed.     

Influence of testosterone on purine nucleotide turnover in rat kidney

The influence of testosterone on purine nucleotide metabolism in rat kidney has been investigated in adult and in prepubertal castrated rats. Results have been evaluated through biomathematical model. Castration enhanced the turnover of purine nucleotides in adult rats and reduced it in young castrated rats. Treatment with testosterone in the castrated rats further enhanced nucleotide turnover both in the adult rats and also in the second group, with an oscillatory profile. A clear effect on the inosinic branch point was demonstrated, and specifically on GMP formation, which was opposite according to the age of the animal. The different behavior in the two groups after castration was partially ascribed to the action of other hormones in the absence of testosterone. The observed changes show that the action of the hormone is not limited to sexual organs; they might be at the basis of variations in cellular size and number which probably occur in the kidney after orchiectomy and following androgen administration.     

Mapping of the bovine genes of the de novo AMP synthesis pathway

Summary The purine nucleotides adenosine monophosphate (AMP) and guanosine monophosphate (GMP) are critical for energy metabolism, cell signalling and cell reproduction. Despite their essential function, little is known about the regulation and in vivo expression pattern of the genes involved in the de novo purine synthesis pathway. The complete coding region of the bovine phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase gene (PAICS), which catalyses steps 6 and 7 of the de novo purine biosynthesis pathway, as well as bovine genomic sequences of the six other genes in the pathway producing inosine monophosphate (IMP) and AMP [phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate amidotransferase (PPAT), phosphoribosylglycinamide formyltransferase (GART), phosphoribosylformylglycinamidine synthase (PFAS), adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL), 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase/IMP cyclohydrolase (ATIC) and adenylosuccinate synthase (ADSS)], were identified. The genes were mapped to segments of six different bovine chromosomes using a radiation hybrid (RH) cell panel. The gene PPAT, coding for the presumed rate-limiting enzyme of the purine de novo pathway was closely linked to PAICS on BTA6. These, and the other bovine locations i.e. GART at BTA1, PFAS at BTA19, ADSL at BTA5, ATIC at BTA2 and ADSS at BTA16, are in agreement with published comparative maps of cattle and man. PAICS and PPAT genes are known to be closely linked in human, rat and chicken. Previously, an expressed sequence fragment of PAICS (Bos taurus corpus luteum, BTCL9) was mapped to BTA13. By isolation and characterization of a BAC clone, we have now identified a PAICS processed pseudogene sequence (psiPAICS) on BTA13. Processed pseudogene sequences of PAICS and other genes of the purine biosynthesis pathway were identified in several mammalian species, indicating that the genes of this pathway have been susceptible to retrotransposition. The seven bovine genes are expressed at a higher level in testicular and ovary tissues compared with skeletal muscle.     

Quantitative Analysis of Purine Nucleotides Indicates That Purinosomes Increase de Novo Purine Biosynthesis

Enzymes in the de novo purine biosynthesis pathway are recruited to form a dynamic metabolic complex referred to as the purinosome. Previous studies have demonstrated that purinosome assembly responds to purine levels in culture medium. Purine-depleted medium or 2-dimethylamino-4,5,6,7-tetrabromo-1H-benzimidazole (DMAT) treatment stimulates the purinosome assembly in HeLa cells. Here, several metabolomic technologies were applied to quantify the static cellular levels of purine nucleotides and measure the de novo biosynthesis rate of IMP, AMP, and GMP. Direct comparison of purinosome-rich cells (cultured in purine-depleted medium) and normal cells showed a 3-fold increase in IMP concentration in purinosome-rich cells and similar levels of AMP, GMP, and ratios of AMP/GMP and ATP/ADP for both. In addition, a higher level of IMP was also observed in HeLa cells treated with DMAT. Furthermore, increases in the de novo IMP/AMP/GMP biosynthetic flux rate under purine-depleted condition were observed. The synthetic enzymes, adenylosuccinate synthase (ADSS) and inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), downstream of IMP were also shown to be part of the purinosome. Collectively, these results provide further evidence that purinosome assembly is directly related to activated de novo purine biosynthesis, consistent with the functionality of the purinosome.     

Adenylosuccinate synthetase: site of action of hydantocidin, a microbial phytotoxin.

The site of action of hydantocidin was probed using Arabidopsis thaliana plants growing on agar plates. Herbicidal effects were reversed when the agar medium was supplemented with AMP, but not IMP or GMP, suggesting that hydantocidin blocked the two-step conversion of IMP to AMP in the de novo purine biosynthesis pathway. Hydantocidin itself did not inhibit adenylosuccinate synthetase or adenylosuccinate lyase isolated from Zea mays. However, a phosphorylated derivative of hydantocidin, N-acetyl-5'-phosphohydantocidin, was a potent inhibitor of the synthetase but not of the lyase. These results identify the site of action of hydantocidin and establish adenylosuccinate synthetase as an herbicide target of commercial potential.     

Developmental Changes in the Activity of Enzymes of Purine Metabolism in Rat Neuronal Cells in Culture and in Whole Brain

The activities (Vmax) of several enzymes of purine nucleotide metabolism were assayed in premature and mature primary rat neuronal cultures and in whole rat brains. In the neuronal cultures, representing 90% pure neurons, maturation (up to 14 days in culture) resulted in an increase in the activities of guanine deaminase (guanase), purine-nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), IMP 5'-nucleotidase, adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT), and AMP deaminase, but in no change in the activities of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT), adenosine deaminase, adenosine kinase, and AMP 5'-nucleotidase. In whole brains in vivo, maturation (from 18 days of gestation to 14 days post partum) was associated with an increase in the activities of guanase, PNP, IMP 5'-nucleotidase, AMP deaminase, and HGPRT, a decrease in the activities of adenosine deaminase and IMP dehydrogenase, and no change in the activities of APRT, AMP 5'-nucleotidase, and adenosine kinase. The profound changes in purine metabolism, which occur with maturation of the neuronal cells in primary cultures in vitro and in whole brains in vivo, create an advantage for AMP degradation by deamination, rather than by dephosphorylation, and for guanine degradation to xanthine over its reutilization for synthesis of GMP. The physiological meaning of the maturational increase in these two ammonia-producing enzymes in the brain is not yet clear. The striking similarity in the alterations of enzyme activities in the two systems indicates that the primary culture system may serve as an appropriate model for the study of purine metabolism in brain.     

Inhibition of purine phosphoribosyltransferases from Ehrlich ascites-tumour cells by purine nucleotides

1. The purine bases adenine, hypoxanthine and guanine were rapidly incorporated into the nucleotide fraction of Ehrlich ascites-tumour cells in vivo. 2. The reaction of 5'-phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate with adenine phosphoribosyltransferase from ascites-tumour cells (K(m) 6.5-11.9mum) was competitively inhibited by AMP, ADP, ATP and GMP (K(i) 7.5, 21.9, 395 and 118mum respectively). Similarly the reactions of 5'-phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate with both hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase and guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (K(m) 18.4-31 and 37.6-44.2mum respectively) were competitively inhibited by IMP (K(i) 52 and 63.5mum) and by GMP (K(i) 36.5 and 5.9mum). 3. The nucleotides tested as inhibitors did not appreciably compete with the purine bases in the phosphoribosyltransferase reactions. 4. It was postulated that the purine phosphoribosyltransferases of Ehrlich ascites-tumour cells may be effectively separated from the adenine nucleotide pool of these cells.     

The effect of some platinum compounds on the biosynthesis of RNA and its precursors.

The effect of cis-DDP (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II)), trans-DDP (trans-diamminedichloroplatinum(II)), SPC (spermine-platinum(II) complex), and K2PtCl4 on the ribomononucleotide and RNA metabolism was studied. When Ehrlich ascites tumor cells were preincubated with the aforementioned compounds and then labeled with [C14]uridine a clear-cut suppression of the radioactive labeling of RNA was observed. As radioactivity incorporated into the pool of the free uridine nucleotides in the cells treated with platinum compounds was even higher in comparison with that of the non-treated cells a conclusion may be drawn with certainty that the platinum compounds studied inhibit RNA biosynthesis. It was also found that under the effect of these compounds in the in vivo-assessed rate of the conversion of uridine nucleotides into cytidine nucleotides was considerably diminished. Using NaH14CO3 as a radioactive precursor it was shown that platinum compounds also inhibited purine biosynthesis de novo, in particular the conversion of IMP into GMP and AMP. The pronounced inhibitory effect of the platinum compounds on essential steps of the pyrimidine and purine biosynthesis de novo may be at least partly responsible for the firmly established inhibition in the present study of RNA biosynthesis by platinum compounds. The inhibition of the synthesis of the mononucleotides and RNA by the platinum compounds may be closely related to their cytostatic and cytotoxic activities.     

Regulation of purine nucleotide biosynthesis in mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts with increased sensitivity of the pathway for de novo synthesis to inhibition by exogenous guanine]

Aza 165 and aza 238 Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants characterized by a 2.5 times higher sensitivity of the de novo purine synthesis to the inhibitory effect of exogenous guanine, as compared with the wild type strain, have been selected by their sensitivity to 8-azaguanine. The exogenous guanine somewhat inhibits the growth and synthesis of nucleis acids in mutants, this being due in vivo neither to permeability changes of the cell membrane, nor to concentration changes of guanilic derivatives in the acid-soluble pool of yeast cells. Using cell-free extract of the strain aza 165, it has been shown that the synthesis of the first product of metabolic pathway for de novo formation of purines, phosphoribosylamine, is inhibited by GMP by 81% and only by 35% in the 15V-P4 strain of the wild type. The inhibition by other end products, IMP and AMP, is the same in both wild and mutant strains. The enhanced sensitivity of the purine synthesis to guanine in vivo is thus due to changes in regulatory properties of the key enzyme of purine nucleotide formation, phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amido-transferase (EC 2.4.2.14). This change in the regulation of purine synthesis in yeast is likely to be a mechanism to compensate the genetically controlled defect in end steps of the biosynthesis pathway, i.e. the incapability of converting guanilic derivatives to adenilic ones. However, the information concerning the regulation of PRPP-amido-transferase activity responsible for differential sensitivity to adenilic and guanilic nucleotides in yeast is not lost but only strongly repressed.     

Purine biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus

Summary The auxanographic analysis of 67 purine-dependent mutants and chromatographic analysis of their culture fluids were used to study purine biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus. The de novo biosynthesis of IMP from SAICAR, and the conversion of IMP to AMP and GMP were shown to occur via the conventional pathways reported for other organisms. Mutants blocked prior to the formation of SAICAR could not be differentiated by the tests used, and no substantial information on this portion of the pathway was obtained. The auxanographic characteristics of double mutants requiring both histidine and purines provided evidence that the sole route whereby S. aureus can convert AMP to IMP (and hence to GMP) is via those reactions of the histidine biosynthetic pathway leading to the formation of IGP and AICAR. In addition, we were able to mutationally separate AICAR transformylase and inosinocase; this separation has not been accomplished in other microorganisms.     

5-Amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide riboside (Z-riboside) metabolism in eukaryotic cells

Metabolites of 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide riboside (Z-riboside) have potential roles in the regulation of cellular metabolism and as pharmacological agents in several pathological situations. Before studying Z-riboside metabolism it was necessary to develop methods for identifying and quantitating 5(4)-amino-4(5)-imidazolecarboxamide metabolites. These studies utilized Chinese hamster ovary fibroblast auxotrophic mutants to identify and isolate compounds relevant to Z-riboside metabolism by a combination of high performance liquid chromatographic procedures. In order to study Z-riboside metabolism wild-type and mutant cells were cultured in Z-riboside. This ribosyl precursor to a purine de novo intermediate does not undergo any detectable phosphorolysis but rather is phosphorylated by adenosine kinase in an unregulated manner. This results in the intracellular accumulation of 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide ribotide (ZMP), the levels of which control flow from Z-riboside to the following metabolites: 1) IMP and other purine nucleotides, 2) 5-amino-4-imidazole-N-succinocarboxamide ribotide (sZMP), and 3) 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide riboside 5'-triphosphate (ZTP). At low ZMP concentrations, the predominant metabolic fate is IMP. Initially, IMP enters the adenylate and guanylate pools, but subsequently is hydrolyzed to inosine and this phosphorolyzed to hypoxanthine. At intermediate ZMP concentrations there is net retrograde flux through the bifunctional enzyme adenylosuccinate AMP lyase resulting in sZMP synthesis and antegrade flux leads to the accumulation of adenylosuccinate. At high ZMP concentrations, ZTP accumulates. In addition to these effects on purine metabolism, pyrimidine nucleotide pools are depleted when ZMP accumulates. These results are discussed in relation to the regulation of purine nucleotide synthesis and the use of Z-riboside as a pharmacological intervention in pathophysiological situations.