Distinct roles for recombinant cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase-I and -II in AMP and IMP catabolism in COS-7 and H9c2 rat myoblast cell lines

Inborn Errors of Purine Salvage and Catabolism

Cellular purine nucleotides derive mainly from de novo synthesis or nucleic acid turnover and, only marginally, from dietary intake. They are subjected to catabolism, eventually forming uric acid in humans, while bases and nucleosides may be converted back to nucleotides through the salvage pathways. Inborn errors of the purine salvage pathway and catabolism have been described by several researchers and are usually referred to as rare diseases. Since purine compounds play a fundamental role, it is not surprising that their dysmetabolism is accompanied by devastating symptoms. Nevertheless, some of these manifestations are unexpected and, so far, have no explanation or therapy. Herein, we describe several known inborn errors of purine metabolism, highlighting their unexplained pathological aspects. Our intent is to offer new points of view on this topic and suggest diagnostic tools that may possibly indicate to clinicians that the inborn errors of purine metabolism may not be very rare diseases after all.

5'-Nucleotidase Plays a Key Role in Uric Acid Metabolism of Bombyx mori

Uric acid (UA) is the end-product in the human purine metabolism pathway. The UA that accumulates in silkworm tissues is excreted as a nitrogen waste product. Here, we first validated that Bombyx mori has a homolog of the human gene that encodes the 5′-nucleotidase (5′N) involved in purine metabolism. The B. mori gene, Bm5′N, is located upstream of other genes involved in UA metabolism in the silkworm. Disruption of Bm5′N via the CRISPR/Cas9 system resulted in decreased UA levels in the silkworm epidermis and caused a translucent skin phenotype. When Bm5′N mutant silkworms were fed with the uric acid precursor inosine, the UA levels in the epidermis increased significantly. Furthermore, the metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses of Bm5′N mutants indicated that loss of the Bm5′N affected purine metabolism and the ABC transport pathway. Taken together, these results suggest that the UA pathway is conserved between the silkworm and humans and that the Bm5′N gene plays a crucial role in the uric acid metabolism of the silkworm. Thus, the silkworm may be a suitable model for the study of UA metabolism pathways relevant to human disease.

Focusing on Adenosine Receptors as a Potential Targeted Therapy in Human Diseases

Adenosine is involved in a range of physiological and pathological effects through membrane-bound receptors linked to G proteins. There are four subtypes of adenosine receptors, described as A1AR, A2AAR, A2BAR, and A3AR, which are the center of cAMP signal pathway-based drug development. Several types of agonists, partial agonists or antagonists, and allosteric substances have been synthesized from these receptors as new therapeutic drug candidates. Research efforts surrounding A1AR and A2AAR are perhaps the most enticing because of their concentration and affinity; however, as a consequence of distressing conditions, both A2BAR and A3AR levels might accumulate. This review focuses on the biological features of each adenosine receptor as the basis of ligand production and describes clinical studies of adenosine receptor-associated pharmaceuticals in human diseases.

Metabolomics Based Identification of SIRT5 and Protein Kinase C Epsilon Regulated Pathways in Brain

The role of Sirtuins in brain function is emerging, yet little is known about SIRT5 in this domain. Our previous work demonstrates that protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε)-induced protection from focal ischemia is lost in SIRT5-/- mice. Thus, metabolic regulation by SIRT5 contributes significantly to ischemic tolerance. The aim of this study was to identify the SIRT5-regulated metabolic pathways in the brain and determine which of those pathways are linked to PKCε. Our results show SIRT5 is primarily expressed in neurons and endothelial cells in the brain, with mitochondrial and extra-mitochondrial localization. Pathway and enrichment analysis of non-targeted primary metabolite profiles from Sirt5-/- cortex revealed alterations in several pathways including purine metabolism (urea, adenosine, adenine, xanthine), nitrogen metabolism (glutamic acid, glycine), and malate-aspartate shuttle (malic acid, glutamic acid). Additionally, perturbations in β-oxidation and carnitine transferase (pentadecanoic acid, heptadecanoic acid) and glutamate transport and glutamine synthetase (urea, xylitol, adenine, adenosine, glycine, glutamic acid) were predicted. Metabolite changes in SIRT5-/- coincided with alterations in expression of amino acid (SLC7A5, SLC7A7) and glutamate (EAAT2) transport proteins as well as key enzymes in purine (PRPS1, PPAT), fatty acid (ACADS, HADHB), glutamine-glutamate (GAD1, GLUD1), and malate-aspartate shuttle (MDH1) metabolic pathways. Moreover, PKCε activation induced alternations in purine metabolites (urea, glutamine) that overlapped with putative SIRT5 pathways in WT but not in SIRT5-/- mice. Finally, we found that purine metabolism is a common metabolic pathway regulated by SIRT5, PKCε and ischemic preconditioning. These results implicate Sirt5 in the regulation of pathways central to brain metabolism, with links to ischemic tolerance.

Regulation of uric acid metabolism and excretion

Purines perform many important functions in the cell, being the formation of the monomeric precursors of nucleic acids DNA and RNA the most relevant one. Purines which also contribute to modulate energy metabolism and signal transduction, are structural components of some coenzymes and have been shown to play important roles in the physiology of platelets, muscles and neurotransmission. All cells require a balanced quantity of purines for growth, proliferation and survival. Under physiological conditions the enzymes involved in the purine metabolism maintain in the cell a balanced ratio between their synthesis and degradation. In humans the final compound of purines catabolism is uric acid. All other mammals possess the enzyme uricase that converts uric acid to allantoin that is easily eliminated through urine. Overproduction of uric acid, generated from the metabolism of purines, has been proven to play emerging roles in human disease. In fact the increase of serum uric acid is inversely associated with disease severity and especially with cardiovascular disease states. This review describes the enzymatic pathways involved in the degradation of purines, getting into their structure and biochemistry until the uric acid formation.

Purine nucleosides in neuroregeneration and neuroprotection

In the present review, we stress the importance of the purine nucleosides, adenosine and guanosine, in protecting the nervous system, both centrally and peripherally, via activation of their receptors and intracellular signalling mechanisms. A most novel part of the review focus on the mechanisms of neuronal regeneration that are targeted by nucleosides, including a recently identified action of adenosine on axonal growth and microtubule dynamics. Discussion on the role of the purine nucleosides transversally with the most established neurotrophic factors, e.g. brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), is also focused considering the intimate relationship between some adenosine receptors, as is the case of the A2A receptors, and receptors for neurotrophins. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled 'Purines in Neurodegeneration and Neuroregeneration'.

Cell proliferation and drug sensitivity of human glioblastoma cells are altered by the stable modulation of cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase II

Cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase II (cN-II) has been reported to be involved in cell survival, nucleotide metabolism and in the cellular response to anticancer drugs. With the aim to further evaluate the role of this enzyme in cell biology, we stably modulated its expression the human glioblastoma cell ADF in which the transient inhibition of cN-II has been shown to induce cell death. Stable cell lines were obtained both with inhibition, obtained with plasmids coding cN-II-targeting short hairpin RNA, and stimulation, obtained with plasmids coding Green Fluorescence Protein (GFP)-fused wild type cN-II or a GFP-fused hyperactive mutant (GFP-cN-II-R367Q), of cN-II expression. Silenced cells displayed a decreased proliferation rate while the over expressing cell lines displayed an increased proliferation rate as evidenced by impedance measurement using the xCELLigence device. The expression of nucleotide metabolism relevant genes was only slightly different between cell lines, suggesting a compensatory mechanism in transfected cells. Cells with decreased cN-II expression were resistant to the nucleoside analog fludarabine confirming the involvement of cN-II in the metabolism of this drug. Finally, we observed sensitivity to cisplatin in cN-II silenced cells and resistance to this same drug in cN-II over-expressing cells indicating an involvement of cN-II in the mechanism of action of platinum derivatives, and most probably in DNA repair. In summary, our findings confirm some previous data on the role of cN-II in the sensitivity of cancer cells to cancer drugs, and suggest its involvement in other cellular phenomenon such as cell proliferation.

Adenosine is present in rat brain synaptic vesicles

Evidences in the central nervous system are in favor that adenosine under basal conditions is released by a direct excitation-secretion modality. However, till now, there is no direct evidence that adenosine is contained in synaptic vesicles. Eight synaptic vesicle fractions were recovered on a discontinuous sucrose gradient after ultracentrifugation of the crude synaptosomal fraction (pellet P2) of rat brain. The adenosine content in each fraction was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a fluorescence detector (minimum sensitivity 10 femtomoles). The immunoblot analysis, to detect synaptophysin, a molecular marker for the vesicle membrane, showed that fractions from 3 to 8 were rich in synaptophysin. The sum of adenosine found in fractions 3-8 was (mean ± SEM, n = 4) 3325.6 ± 94.6 pmol/mg of tissue protein. We proved that adenosine measured in synaptic vesicle fractions was not contaminated by cytosolic adenosine, as adenosine exogenously added to the P2 preferentially distributed in fractions 1 and 2 that are synaptophysin-free and did not contaminate the vesicle pellet P3. Data provide direct demonstration that adenosine is present in rat brain synaptic vesicle fractions. This information is consistent with the notion that adenosine is stored in synaptic vesicles and is released under normoxic physiological conditions by an excitation-secretion mechanism typical of neuronal cells.

Intracellular adenosine formation and release by freshly-isolated vascular endothelial cells from rat skeletal muscle: effects of hypoxia and/or acidosis

Previous studies suggested indirectly that vascular endothelial cells (VECs) might be able to release intracellularly-formed adenosine. We isolated VECs from the rat soleus muscle using collagenase digestion and magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). The VEC preparation had >90% purity based on cell morphology, fluorescence immunostaining, and RT-PCR of endothelial markers. The kinetic properties of endothelial cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase suggested it was the AMP-preferring N-I isoform: its catalytic activity was 4 times higher than ecto-5'nucleotidase. Adenosine kinase had 50 times greater catalytic activity than adenosine deaminase, suggesting that adenosine removal in VECs is mainly through incorporation into adenine nucleotides. The maximal activities of cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase and adenosine kinase were similar. Adenosine and ATP accumulated in the medium surrounding VECs in primary culture. Hypoxia doubled the adenosine, but ATP was unchanged; AOPCP did not alter medium adenosine, suggesting that hypoxic VECs had released intracellularly-formed adenosine. Acidosis increased medium ATP, but extracellular conversion of ATP to AMP was inhibited, and adenosine remained unchanged. Acidosis in the buffer-perfused rat gracilis muscle elevated AMP and adenosine in the venous effluent, but AOPCP abolished the increase in adenosine, suggesting that adenosine is formed extracellularly by non-endothelial tissues during acidosis in vivo. Hypoxia plus acidosis increased medium ATP by a similar amount to acidosis alone and adenosine 6-fold; AOPCP returned the medium adenosine to the level seen with hypoxia alone. These data suggest that VECs release intracellularly formed adenosine in hypoxia, ATP during acidosis, and both under simulated ischaemic conditions, with further extracellular conversion of ATP to adenosine.

Identification of the nucleotidase responsible for the AMP hydrolysing hyperactivity associated with neurological and developmental disorders

Nucleoside monophosphate phosphohydrolases comprise a family of enzymes dephosphorylating nucleotides both in intracellular and extracellular compartments. Members of this family exhibit different sequence, location, substrate specificity and regulation. Besides the ectosolic 5'-nucleotidase, several cytosolic and one mitochondrial enzymes have been described. Nevertheless, researchers refer any AMP-dephosphorylating activity to as 5'-nucleotidase, lacking a more accurate identification. Increase of AMP hydrolysing activity has been associated with neurological and developmental disorders. The identification of the specific enzyme involved in these pathologies would be fundamental for the comprehension of the linkage between the enzyme activity alteration and brain functions. We demonstrate that the described neurological symptoms are associated with increased ectosolic 5'-nucleotidase activity on the basis of radiochemical assays and immunoblotting analysis. Furthermore, present data evidence that the assay conditions normally applied for the determination of cytosolic 5'-nucleotidases activity in crude extracts are affected by the presence of solubilised ectosolic nucleotidase.

The 5'-nucleotidases as regulators of nucleotide and drug metabolism

The 5'-nucleotidases are a family of enzymes that catalyze the dephosphorylation of nucleoside monophosphates and regulate cellular nucleotide and nucleoside levels. While the nucleoside kinases responsible for the initial phosphorylation of salvaged nucleosides have been well studied, many of the catabolic nucleotidases have only recently been cloned and characterized. Aside from maintaining balanced ribo- and deoxyribonucleotide pools, substrate cycles that are formed with kinase and nucleotidase activities are also likely to regulate the activation of nucleoside analogues, a class of anticancer and antiviral agents that rely on the nucleoside kinases for phosphorylation to their active forms. Both clinical and in vitro studies suggest that an increase in nucleotidase activity can inhibit nucleoside analogue activation and result in drug resistance. The physiological role of the 5'-nucleotidases will be covered in this review, as will the evidence that these enzymes can mediate resistance to nucleoside analogues.

Mechanistic studies on bovine cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase II, an enzyme belonging to the HAD superfamily

Cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase/phosphotransferase specific for 6-hydroxypurine monophosphate derivatives (cN-II), belongs to a class of phosphohydrolases that act through the formation of an enzyme-phosphate intermediate. Sequence alignment with members of the P-type ATPases/L-2-haloacid dehalogenase superfamily identified three highly conserved motifs in cN-II and other cytosolic nucleotidases. Mutagenesis studies at specific amino acids occurring in cN-II conserved motifs were performed. The modification of the measured kinetic parameters, caused by conservative and nonconservative substitutions, suggested that motif I is involved in the formation and stabilization of the covalent enzyme-phosphate intermediate. Similarly, T249 in motif II as well as K292 in motif III also contribute to stabilize the phospho-enzyme adduct. Finally, D351 and D356 in motif III coordinate magnesium ion, which is required for catalysis. These findings were consistent with data already determined for P-type ATPases, haloacid dehalogenases and phosphotransferases, thus suggesting that cN-II and other mammalian 5'-nucleotidases are characterized by a 3D arrangement related to the 2-haloacid dehalogenase superfold. Structural determinants involved in differential regulation by nonprotein ligands and redox reagents of the two naturally occurring cN-II forms generated by proteolysis were ascertained by combined biochemical and mass spectrometric investigations. These experiments indicated that the C-terminal region of cN-II contains a cysteine prone to form a disulfide bond, thereby inactivating the enzyme. Proteolysis events that generate the observed cN-II forms, eliminating this C-terminal portion, may prevent loss of enzymic activity and can be regarded as regulatory phenomena.

Regulation and activity of cytosolic 5′-nucleotidase II

In many vertebrate tissues, cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase II (cN-II) either hydrolyses or phosphorylates a number of purine (monophosphorylated) nucleosides through a scheme common to the Haloacid Dehalogenase superfamily members. It possesses a pivotal role in purine cellular metabolism and it acts on anti-tumoural and antiviral nucleoside analogues, thus being of potential therapeutic importance. cN-II is Mg2+-dependent, regulated and stabilised by several factors such as allosteric effectors ATP and 2,3-DPG, although these are not directly involved in the reaction stoichiometry. We review herein the experimental knowledge currently available about this remarkable enzymatic activity.

Is the failing heart energy starved? On using chemical energy to support cardiac function

The requirement of chemical energy in the form of ATP to support systolic and diastolic work of the heart is absolute. Because of its central role in cardiac metabolism and performance, the subject of this review on energetics in the failing heart is ATP. We briefly review the basics of myocardial ATP metabolism and describe how this changes in the failing heart. We present an analysis of what is now known about the causes and consequences of these energetic changes and conclude by commenting on unsolved problems and opportunities for future basic and clinical research.

General enzymatic screens identify three new nucleotidases in Escherichia coli. Biochemical characterization of SurE, YfbR, and YjjG

To find proteins with nucleotidase activity in Escherichia coli, purified unknown proteins were screened for the presence of phosphatase activity using the general phosphatase substrate p-nitrophenyl phosphate. Proteins exhibiting catalytic activity were then assayed for nucleotidase activity against various nucleotides. These screens identified the presence of nucleotidase activity in three uncharacterized E. coli proteins, SurE, YfbR, and YjjG, that belong to different enzyme superfamilies: SurE-like family, HD domain family (YfbR), and haloacid dehalogenase (HAD)-like superfamily (YjjG). The phosphatase activity of these proteins had a neutral pH optimum (pH 7.0-8.0) and was strictly dependent on the presence of divalent metal cations (SurE: Mn(2+) > Co(2+) > Ni(2+) > Mg(2+); YfbR: Co(2+) > Mn(2+) > Cu(2+); YjjG: Mg(2+) > Mn(2+) > Co(2+)). Further biochemical characterization of SurE revealed that it has a broad substrate specificity and can dephosphorylate various ribo- and deoxyribonucleoside 5'-monophosphates and ribonucleoside 3'-monophosphates with highest affinity to 3'-AMP. SurE also hydrolyzed polyphosphate (exopolyphosphatase activity) with the preference for short-chain-length substrates (P(20-25)). YfbR was strictly specific to deoxyribonucleoside 5'-monophosphates, whereas YjjG showed narrow specificity to 5'-dTMP, 5'-dUMP, and 5'-UMP. The three enzymes also exhibited different sensitivities to inhibition by various nucleoside di- and triphosphates: YfbR was equally sensitive to both di- and triphosphates, SurE was inhibited only by triphosphates, and YjjG was insensitive to these effectors. The differences in their sensitivities to nucleotides and their varied substrate specificities suggest that these enzymes play unique functions in the intracellular nucleotide metabolism in E. coli.

Metabolic and functional consequences of cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase-IA overexpression in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes

Adenosine exerts a spectrum of energy-preserving actions on the heart negative chronotropic effects. The pathways leading to adenosine formation have remained controversial. In particular, although cytosolic 5'-nucleotidases can catalyze adenosine formation in cardiomyocytes, their contribution to the actions of adenosine has not been documented previously. We recently cloned two closely related AMP-preferring cytosolic 5'-nucleotidases (cN-IA and -IB); the A form predominates in the heart. In this study, we overexpressed pigeon cN-IA in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes using an adenovirus. cN-IA overexpression increased adenosine formation and release into the medium caused by simulated hypoxia and by isoproterenol in the absence and presence of inhibitors of adenosine metabolism. Adenosine release was not affected by an ecto-5'-nucleotidase inhibitor, alpha,beta-methylene-ADP, but was affected by a nucleoside transporter, dipyridamole. The positive chronotropic effect of isoproterenol (130 +/-3 vs. 100 +/-4 beats/min) was inhibited (107 +/-3 vs. 94 +/-3 beats/min) in cells overexpressing cN-IA, and this was reversed by the addition of the adenosine receptor antagonist 8-(p-sulfophenyl)theophilline (120 +/- 3 vs. 90 +/- 4 beats/min). Our results demonstrate that overexpressed cN-IA can be sufficiently active in cardiomyocytes to generate physiologically effective concentrations of adenosine at its receptors.

Occurrence of IMP-GMP 5'-nucleotidase in three fish species: a comparative study on Trachurus japonicus, Oncorhynchus masou masou and Triakis scyllium

IMP-hydrolyzing activity, which is reactive with goose anti-pig lung IMP-GMP 5'-nucleotidase (EC.3.1.3.5) serum, was detected in extracts from various tissues of Trachurus japonicus (a marine teleost), Oncorhynchus masou masou (a freshwater teleost) and Triakis scyllium (an elasmobranch). Kinetic characteristics of the reactive enzymatic activity were similar to those of IMP-GMP 5'-nucleotidase from mammals and birds. In all species studied, the activity was highest in the liver (4-6 micromol of Pi released from IMP/min/mg of protein). The second highest activity was observed in the head portion of Oncorhynchus kidney (4 micromol of Pi released from IMP/min/mg of protein), which was twofold higher than that of its body portion. In all three species, the activity was lowest in white skeletal muscle among the tissues studied (0.1-0.3 micromol of Pi released from IMP/min/mg of protein), while the activity in red skeletal muscle was sixfold to 10-fold higher than that in white muscle.

Cloning of a mouse cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase-I identifies a new gene related to human autoimmune infertility-related protein

Adenosine production catalysed by cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase (cN-I) regulates diverse physiological processes. We report here a mouse cN-I (mcN-I) cloned from heart and testis. The open reading frame contains several potential translation initiation sites, which yield similarly active 5'-nucleotidases. Using overexpression in COS-7 cells we showed that mcN-I, like the previously cloned pigeon cN-I, is activated by ADP and catalyses adenosine formation during ATP breakdown. The N- and C-termini of mcN-I and pcN-I are divergent. Deletion of the 12 C-terminal amino acids or the first 19 N-terminal amino acids of pcN-I does not diminish activity, although deletion of the first 31 N-terminal amino acids reduces activity by 70%. Overall mcN-I is only 66% identical to pcN-I or the recently cloned human cN-I (hcN-I), while hcN-I and pcN-I are 85% identical. We report here a partial hcN-I sequence that is only 70% identical with the published hcN-I amino acid sequence but is 87% identical with mcN-I. Both hcN-I sequences have perfect matches to distinct human genome sequences. Our data imply the existence of at least two genes for cN-I, cN-I(A), previously cloned from pigeon and human, and cN-I(B) that we report here from mouse and partially from human.

Expression of pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase subclass I during erythrocyte maturation in rats

The subclass I enzyme of rat pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase (P5N-I), which preferentially hydrolyzes (deoxy)CMP and UMP, is distributed specifically in red blood cells (RBCs), and its activity increases approximately six-fold as compared to the control value after erythropoietic induction by phenylhydrazine administration. In this study, we detected rat P5N-I protein by using antibodies against the chicken P5N-I enzyme. The molecular mass of rat P5N-I was approximately 37 kDa, as estimated by gel filtration chromatography and Western blot analysis. The pI value of the enzyme was approximately 5.7. This protein band was detected only in RBC lysate extract, i.e., not in cytosol from the erythropoietic spleen. Protein mass of the P5N-I enzyme, estimated by immunoblot analysis, was increased in proportion to the enzyme activity after erythropoietic induction in rats. No phosphorylation of the enzyme protein was detected by immunoblot analysis with anti-phosphoserine or anti-phosphotyrosine antibody. In conclusion, these findings indicate that the rat P5N-I enzyme is expressed specifically in reticulocytes and may therefore be essential in the maturation process of rat erythrocytes.

Human cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase I: characterization and role in nucleoside analog resistance

Nucleoside analogs are important in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, and viral infections. Their metabolism to the triphosphate form is central to their chemotherapeutic efficacy. Although the nucleoside kinases responsible for the phosphorylation of these compounds have been well described, the nucleotidases that may mediate drug resistance through dephosphorylation remain obscure. We have cloned and characterized a novel human cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase (cN-I) that potentially may have an important role in nucleoside analog metabolism. It is expressed at a high level in skeletal and heart muscle, at an intermediate level in pancreas and brain, and at a low level in kidney, testis, and uterus. The recombinant cN-I showed high affinity toward dCMP and lower affinity toward AMP and IMP. ADP was necessary for maximal catalytic activity. Expression of cN-I in Jurkat and HEK 293 cells conferred resistance to 2-chloro-2'-deoxyadenosine, with a 49-fold increase in the IC(50) in HEK 293 and a greater than 400-fold increase in the IC(50) in Jurkat cells. Expression of cN-I also conferred a 22-fold increase in the IC(50) to 2',3'-difluorodeoxycytidine in HEK 293 cells and an 82-fold increase in the IC(50) to 2',3'-dideoxycytidine in Jurkat cells. These data indicate that cN-I may play an important role in the regulation of physiological pyrimidine nucleotide pools and may also alter the therapeutic efficacy of certain nucleoside analogs.

Cytosolic high K(m) 5'-nucleotidase and 5'(3')-deoxyribonucleotidase in substrate cycles involved in nucleotide metabolism

5'-Nucleotidases are the catabolic members of the substrate cycles postulated to be involved in the regulation of intracellular deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate pools. Here, we attempt to identify the nature of the nucleotidases. Earlier, we constructed various mammalian cell lines that can be induced to overproduce the high K(m) 5'-nucleotidase (hkm-NT) or the 5'(3')-deoxynucleotidase (dNT-1). Now we labeled control and induced human 293 cells and hamster V79 cells with radioactive hypoxanthine or uridine and during a chase measured quantitatively the metabolism of ribo- and deoxyribonucleotides, DNA replication, and excretion of nucleosides into the medium. Overproduction of hkm-NT greatly increased excretion of inosine and guanosine but did not affect adenosine or deoxyribonucleosides. dNT-1 overproduction increased excretion of deoxycytidine, thymidine, and in particular deoxyuridine but also uridine and cytidine. We conclude that the hkm-NT is not involved in the regulation of deoxyribonucleotide pools but affects IMP and GTP pools. dNT-1, instead, appears to be the catabolic arm of substrate cycles regulating pyrimidine nucleotide pools.