Simultaneous Determination of Purine and Pyrimidine Metabolites in Hprt-Deficient Cell Lines

Genetic mutations in the purine salvage enzyme, hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT), are known to cause Lesch–Nyhan syndrome and Kelley–Seegmiller syndrome. In patients, purine metabolism is different from that of normal persons. We have previously developed a method for simultaneously determining the concentration of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and nucleotides. This system was applied to determine the concentrations of nucleosides and nucleotides in HPRT-deficient cell lines. The amount of inosine 5′-monophosphate (IMP) was different in Lesch–Nyhan syndrome, Kelley–Seegmiller syndrome, and control cell lines. The difference in the amount of IMP confirmed the mutation of the enzyme.