Enzymatic Synthesis of Phosphoribosylamine in Human Cells

Purine biosynthesis in mutant mammalian cells

De novo purine biosynthesis has been studied in lymphocyte cell lines established from Lesch-Nyhan patients deficient in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT), in in vitro differentiating erythroleukaemic cell lines cloned from cells charactistic of virus-induced murine leukaemia, and in mutant hamster cells deficient in amidophosphoribosyltransferase. The relationship between cellular phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PP-ribose-P) metabolism and the activity of the enzymes which catalyse the early steps of de novo purine biosynthesis has been explored. It was found that hamster cells deficient in amidophosphoribosyltransferase did not accumulate PP-ribose-P as do HGPRT-deficient cells. In these model systems, an accelerated rate of de novo purine biosynthesis tended to be associated with an increase in cellular PP-ribose-P cotent, but decreases in this rate results from the reduction in the activity of amidophosphoribosyltransferase. Regulation of ammonia-dependent de novo purine biosynthesis was similar to that of glutamine-dependent purine biosynthesis.

Presence, preliminary properties and partial purification of 5-phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase from Artemia sp

5'-Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase, which catalyzes the synthesis of phosphoribosylamine in the de novo synthesis of purine nucleotides, has been detected and partially purified approx. 800-fold from Artemia sp. nauplii. The apparent Km values for 5'-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate as substrate were 0.7 mM and 0.4 mM in the presence of glutamine and ammonia as nitrogenous sources, respectively, and the enzymatic activity was inhibited by purine 5'-ribonucleotide compounds and 5', 5'''-p1, p4-diguanosine tetraphosphate.

Incorporation of intraportally infused [15N]ammonia into urinary uric acid in cockerels pretreated with methionine sulfoximine

1. Measurements were made in situ to determine the incorporation of intraportally infused ammonia-15N into urinary uric acid in cockerels pre-treated with methionine sulfoximine (MSM), a glutamine synthetase inhibitor. 2. The incorporation of 15N into urinary uric acid was 34% of the infused amount in MSM-treated birds. This was not significantly different from the value of 46% for control birds. 3. Pre-treatment with MSM inhibited the activity of liver glutamine synthetase to 7% of the control value and decreased the incorporation of the infused ammonia-15N into plasma glutamine amide-N to 3% of the control. 4. Increases in glutamine concentrations in the blood, liver and kidney caused by the infusion of ammonia were also completely inhibited by the MSM treatment (P less than 0.05). 5. It is concluded that in the cockerel ammonia-N can be incorporated into uric acid other than by glutamine formation.

Assay of glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase using [1-14C]phosphoribosylpyrophosphate

Glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase (EC 2.4.2.14) catalyzes the transfer of the amide group of glutamine to 5-phospho-alpha-D-ribose-1-pyrophosphate. It is the first enzyme committed to the synthesis of purines by the de novo pathway. Previous assays of enzyme activity have either measured the phosphoribosylpyrophosphate-dependent disappearance of radioactive glutamine or have linked this reaction to subsequent steps in the purine pathway. A new assay for activity of the enzyme by directly measuring the synthesis of the product of the reaction. 5-beta-phosphoribosyl-1-amine, using [1-14C]phosphoribosylpyrophosphate as substrate is described. Substrate and product are separated by thin-layer chromatography and identified by autoradiography. Glutamine or ammonia may be used as substrates; the apparent Km values of the human lymphoblast enzyme are 0.46 mM for glutamine and 0.71 mM for ammonia. GMP is a considerably more potent inhibitor of the human lymphoblast enzyme than is AMP; 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine inhibits only glutamine-dependent activity and has no effect on ammonia-dependent activity.

Biochemical genetics of Chinese hamster cell mutants with deviant purine metabolism: characterization of Chinese hamster cell mutants defective in phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase and phosphoribosylglycinamide synthetase and an examination of alternatives to the first step of purine biosynthesis

Activities of the first three enzymes in the de novo purine biosynthetic pathway have been measured in cell-free extracts of the Chinese hamster ovary cell (CHO-K1) and two purine-requiring auxotrophs of this cell. Ade-A has been found to be defective in phosphoribosylpryophosphate (PRPP) amidotransferase while Ade-C has been found to be defective in glycinamide ribonucleotide (GAR) synthetase. Neither enzyme deficiency is due to the presence of an excess of diffusible inhibitor, and mixed extracts of Ade-A and Ade-C are capable of performing both enzymatic steps in a coupled assay. Assays of GAR formyltransferase show that it is present in Ade-A and Ade-C, indicating that these cell types are defective in only one enzyme each of the early purine biosynthetic enzymes. Using the Ade-A mutant, analysis of alternatives to PRPP plus glutamine as substrates for the first step in the purine biosynthetic pathway showed that a common genetic unit must direct the synthesis for both PRPP plus glutamine and PRPP plus ammonia activities. Although ribose-5-phosphate plus ammonia can be used in cell-free extracts to perform the first step in purine biosynthesis, it is shown that this activity is apparently not used by intact CHO-K1 cells.

Purine and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthesis in differentiating murine virus-induced erythroleukemic cells in vitro

Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase activity was determined in Friend virus-inducted erythroleukemic cells in culture, stimulated to differentiate in the presence of dimethylsulfoxide. The activity of phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase did not decrease in cells which had acquired the specialized function of hemoglobin synthesis, nor was the phosphoribosylpyrophosphate content of untreated erythroleukemic cells significantly different from that of cultures exposed to dimethylsulfoxide for 96 hours. However, the rate of the early steps of de novo purine biosynthesis as measured by the incorporation of [1-14C] glycine and [1-14C] formate into formyglycinamide ribonucleotide, was significantly lower in differentiating cell cultures. The addition of glutamine or ammonia increased glycine incorporation of control cultures, but failed to do so in treated cultures. In the course of the normal development of erythrocytes in vivo, phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase activity is preserved, while the capacity to synthesize purines de novo is lost, as is the activity of the phosphoribosyl-l-amine synthesizing enzymes. Our present study suggests that the rate of de novo purine biosynthesis in this erythroleukemic cell line is not limited by the availability of phosphoribosylphrophosphate, but rather by a decrease in the phosphoribosyl-l-amine synthesizing enzymes. These findings provide further evidence that during dimethylsulfoxide-stimulated erythroid maturation, the same regulatory mechanisms are operative as in normal cellular development, and that ammonia-dependent purine biosynthesis is subject to the same regulatory mechanisms as is glutamine-dependent biosynthesis.

Biochemical genetics of Chinese hamster cell mutants with deviant purine metabolism. IV. Isolation of a mutant which accumulates adenylosuccinic acid and succinylaminoimidazole carboxamide ribotide

The production, isolation, and characterization of a new complementation group (Ade-I) of adenine-requiring mutant of Chinese hamster cells (CHO-K1) is described. This mutant accumulates two intermediates of purine biosynthesis, both of which contain an aspartate moiety. One of these is shown to be adenylosuccinic acid (AMPS) by chromatographic analysis, while evidence is presented that strongly suggests the other intermediate is succinylaminoimidazole carboxamide ribotide (SAICAR). Thus, Ade-I is most likely lacking the activity of the enzyme adenylosuccinase (EC 4.3.2.2). The use of this and similar mutants for the analysis of regulation of purine biosynthesis in mammalian cells is discussed.