N10-Formyltetrahydrofolate is the formyl donor for glycinamide ribotide transformylase in Escherichia coli.

Glycinamide ribotide transformylase from Escherichia coli was obtained free of N5,N10-methenyltetrahydrofolate cyclohydrolase activity by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. In reaction mixtures containing this enzyme preparation in potassium maleate buffer, pH 7.2, no detectable interconversion of N5,N10-methenyltetrahydrofolate occurred. Upon addition of glycinamide ribotide, N-formylglycinamide ribotide was formed when N10-formyltetrahydrofolate was present; no formylation occurred in the presence of N5,N10-methenyltetrahydrofolate. A method for the synthesis and purification of glycinamide ribotide is presented.     

Inhibition of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribotide transformylase, adenosine deaminase and 5''-adenylate deaminase by polyglutamates of methotrexate and oxidized folates and by 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside and ribotide.

With the use of a continuous spectrophotometric assay and initial rates determined by the method of Waley [Biochem. J. (1981) 193, 1009-1012] methotrexate was found to be a non-competitive inhibitor, with Ki(intercept) = 72 microM and Ki(slope) = 41 microM, of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribotide transformylase, whereas a polyglutamate of methotrexate containing three gamma-linked glutamate residues was a competitive inhibitor, with Ki = 3.15 microM. Pentaglutamates of folic acid and 10-formylfolic acid were also competitive inhibitors of the transformylase, with Ki values of 0.088 and 1.37 microM respectively. Unexpectedly, the pentaglutamate of 10-formyldihydrofolic acid was a good substrate for the transformylase, with a Km of 0.51 microM and a relative Vmax. of 0.72, which compared favourably with a Km of 0.23 microM and relative Vmax. of 1.0 for the tetrahydro analogue. An analysis of the progress curve of the transformylase-catalysed reaction with the above dihydro coenzyme revealed that the pentaglutamate of dihydrofolic acid was a competitive product inhibitor, with Ki = 0.14 microM. The continuous spectrophotometric assay for adenosine deaminase based on change in the absorbance at 265 nm was shown to be valid with adenosine concentrations above 100 microM, which contradicts a previous report [Murphy, Baker, Behling & Turner (1982) Anal. Biochem. 122, 328-337] that this assay was invalid above this concentration. With the spectrophotometric assay, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside was found to be a competitive inhibitor of adenosine deaminase, with (Ki = 362 microM), whereas the ribotide was a competitive inhibitor of 5'-adenylate deaminase, with Ki = 1.01 mM. Methotrexate treatment of susceptible cells results in (1) its conversion into polyglutamates, (2) the accumulation of oxidized folate polyglutamates, and (3) the accumulation of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside and ribotide. The above metabolic events may be integral elements producing the cytotoxic effect of this drug by (1) producing tighter binding of methotrexate to folate-dependent enzymes, (2) producing inhibitors of folate-dependent enzymes from their tetrahydrofolate coenzymes, and (3) trapping toxic amounts of adenine nucleosides and nucleotides as a result of inhibition of adenosine deaminase and 5'-adenylate deaminase respectively.     

Purine mutants of mammalian cell lines. I. Accumulation of formylglycinamide ribotide by purine mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells

Mutants unable to perform de novo biosynthesis of purines have been isolated from cultures of mutagen-treated Chinese hamster ovary cells using bromodeoxyuridine selection techniques. Accumulation of C ¹⁴ -labeled formylglycinamide ribotide by suspension cultures of mutant cells incubated with glycine-C ¹⁴ suggested that the defect leading to auxotrophy most probably involves the gene coding for formylglycinamide amidotransferase, (E.C. 6.3, 5.3), the fourth enzyme in the de novo purine biosynthetic pathway. Direct assay of formylglycinamide amidotransferase activity in cell-free extracts prepared from mutant and parental cells has demonstrated the absence of amidotransferase activity in mutant derived extracts.     

A rapid assay for 5-amino-4-imidazelecar☐amide ribotide transformylase

A rapid spectrophotometric assay for 5-amino-4-imidazolecar?amide ribotide transformylase has been devised. The assay consists of monitoring the tetrahydrofolate generated during the enzyme-catalyzed reaction which results in an increase in absorbance at 298 nm. The formation of tetrahydrofolate shows an absolute depedence on 5-amino-4-imidazolecar?amide ribotide, 10-formyltetrahydrofolate, and the enzyme.     

The accumulation of glycinamide ribotide by ade3 and ade8 mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The purine intermediate GAR is present in cell free extracts of $\text{ade3}$ and $\text{ade8}$ mutants of yeast. It is also detectable following acid hydrolysis of extracts of $\text{ade6}$ and $\text{ade7}$ which accumulate FGAR and FGAM respectively. GAR accumulation is repressed by growing cells in high levels of adenine. Neither $\text{ade4}$ nor $\text{ade5}$ accumulate GAR and both prevent accumulation of GAR in $\text{ade3}$ and $\text{ade8}$ and FGAR in $\text{ade6}$. Since $\text{ade3}$ is known to be defective in folate metabolism these results indicate that $\text{ade8}$ is blocked in the conversion of GAR→FGAR.     

Antifolates induce primary inhibition of the de novo purine pathway prior to 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribotide transformylase in leukemia cells.

Polyglutamated dihydrofolate, accumulated as a result of potent inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), has been postulated to directly inhibit the purine pathway at 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribotide (AICAR) transformylase (reaction 9) in leukemia cells exposed to methotrexate (MTX). We have observed that 25 microM MTX or piritrexim, a "non-classical" antifolate, induce several-fold accumulations of AICAR and N-succino-AICAR to a combined cellular concentration of 89 microM in mouse L1210 leukemia cells after 2 h. By contrast, complete inhibition of reaction 4 by 25 microM azaserine results in accumulation of N-formyl-glycinamide ribotide (FGAR) polyphosphates to a combined cellular concentration of greater than 10 mM. MTX prevented azaserine-induced accumulation of FGAR polyphosphates. Hence, these antifolates induce primary inhibition of the de novo purine pathway at, or prior to, glycinamide ribotide transformylase (reaction 3).     

Evidence that Blastocladiella emersonii zoospore maintenance factor is a sulfhydryl group-containing cyclic ribotide

Blastocladiella emersonii zoospore maintenance factor (ZMF), released into the medium during zoospore production, mediates a reversible developmental block to zoospore encystment (Gottschalk, W. K., and Sonneborn, D. R. (1981) Exp. Mycol. 5, 1-14 and (1982) Dev. Biol. 93, 165-180). Crude ZMF and purified ZMF display indistinguishable sensitivities/insensitivities to inactivations by several different chemical or enzymatic treatments. Such data have provided additional support for the conclusion (Gottschalk, W. K., and Sonneborn, D. R. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 6588-6591) that ZMF biological activity resides in a single molecular species. The inactivation analyses have provided substantial evidence that ZMF is a newly discovered SH-containing cyclic ribotide. At least one SH-containing side group and at least one free amino group linked to an imidazole, as well as a ribosyl moiety containing a cyclic 3',5'-phosphate, a 2'-free hydroxyl, and a 1'-linkage to the imidazole, appear to be essential structural requirements for ZMF-mediated encystment blockage. The proposed structure of biologically functional ZMF is similar to that of a key intermediate in the de novo pathway of purine nucleotide biosynthesis (5'-phosphoribosyl-5-aminoimidazole-4-N-succino-carboxamide), except that ZMF, and not 5'-phosphoribosyl-5-aminoimidazole-4-N-succinocarboxamide, contains a cyclic phosphate and at least one reduced SH group.