scholarly journals Purine salvage networks in Giardia lamblia.

1983 ◽  
Vol 158 (5) ◽  
pp. 1703-1712 ◽  
Author(s):  
C C Wang ◽  
S Aldritt
Keyword(s):  
Giardia Lamblia ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Adenine Nucleotides ◽  
Guanine Nucleotides ◽  
Rational Approach ◽  
Purine Nucleotides ◽  
Purine Salvage ◽  
Nucleotide Synthesis ◽  
Guanine Base

Purine metabolism in Giardia lamblia was investigated by monitoring incorporation of radiolabeled precursors into purine nucleotides in the log-phase trophozoites cultivated in vitro in axenic media and incubated in buffered saline glucose. The lack of incorporation of formate, glycine, hypoxanthine, inosine, and xanthine into the nucleotide pool suggests the absence of de novo purine nucleotide synthesis and the inability to form IMP as the precursor of AMP and GMP in G. lamblia. Only adenine, adenosine, guanine, and guanosine were incorporated. Further analysis of the labeled nucleotides by HPLC indicated that adenine and adenosine are converted only to adenine nucleotides whereas guanine and guanosine are only incorporated into guanine nucleotides. There is no competition of incorporation between adenine/adenosine and guanine/guanosine, and there is no interconversion between adenine and guanine nucleotides. Results from analyzing [5'-3H]guanosine incorporation indicate that the ribose moiety is not incorporated with the guanine base. Assays of purine salvage enzymic activities in the crude extracts of G. lamblia revealed the presence of only four major enzymes; adenosine and guanosine hydrolases and adenine and guanine phosphoribosyl transferases. Apparently, G. lamblia has an exceedingly simple purine salvage system; it converts adenosine and guanosine to corresponding purine bases and then forms AMP and GMP by the actions of corresponding purine phosphoribosyl transferases. The guanine phosphoribosyl transferase in G. lamblia is interesting because it does not recognize either hypoxanthine or xanthine as substrate. It thus must have a unique substrate specificity and may be regarded as a potential target to attack as a rational approach to chemotherapeutic control of giardiasis.

scholarly journals Metabolism of xanthine and hypoxanthine in the tea plant (Thea sinensis L.)

1975 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Suzuki ◽  
E Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Tea Plant ◽  
Shoot Tips ◽  
Purine Nucleotides ◽  
Purine Salvage ◽  
Nucleotide Synthesis ◽  
Caffeine Biosynthesis ◽  
Tea Shoot ◽  
Tea Plants ◽  
Almost All

1. The metabolism of xanthine and hypoxanthine in excised shoot tips of tea was studied with micromolar amounts of [2(-14)C]xanthine or [8(-14)C]hypoxanthine. Almost all of the radioactive compounds supplied were utilized by tea shoot tips by 30 h after their uptake. 2. The main products of [2(-14)C]xanthine and [8(-14)C]hypoxanthine metabolism in tea shoots were urea, allantoin and allantoic acid. There was also incorporation of the label into theobromine, caffeine and RNA purine nucleotides. 3. The results indicate that tea plants can catabolize purine bases by the same pathways as animals. It is also suggested that tea plants have the ability to snythesize purine nucleotides from glycine by the pathways of purine biosynthesis de novo and from hypoxanthine and xanthine by the pathway of purine salvage. 4. The results of incorporation of more radioactivity from [8(-14)C]hypoxanthine than from [2(-14)C]xanthine into RNA purine nucleotides and caffeine suggest that hypoxanthine is a more effective precursor of caffeine biosynthesis than xanthine. The formation of caffeine from hypoxanthine is a result of nucleotide synthesis via the pathway of purine salvage.

scholarly journals Virtual Screening of Combinatorial Libraries across a Gene Family: in Search of Inhibitors of Giardia lamblia Guanine Phosphoribosyltransferase

2001 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 2571-2576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex M. Aronov ◽  
Narsimha R. Munagala ◽  
Irwin D. Kuntz ◽  
Ching C. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Gene Family ◽  
Giardia Lamblia ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Combinatorial Libraries ◽  
Protozoan Parasite ◽  
Binding Pocket ◽  
Purine Nucleotides ◽  
Purine Salvage

ABSTRACT Parasitic protozoa lack the ability to synthesize purine nucleotides de novo, relying instead on purine salvage enzymes for their survival. Guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (GPRT) from the protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia is a potential target for rational antiparasitic drug design, based on the experimental evidence, which indicates the lack of interconversion between adenine and guanine nucleotide pools. The present study is a continuation of our efforts to use three-dimensional structures of parasitic phosphoribosyltransferases (PRTs) to design novel antiparasitic agents. Two micromolar phthalimide-based GPRT inhibitors were identified by screening the in-house phthalimide library. A combination of structure-based scaffold selection using virtual library screening across the PRT gene family and solid phase library synthesis led to identification of smaller (molecular weight, <300) ligands with moderate to low specificity for GPRT; the best inhibitors, GP3 and GP5, had K i values in the 23 to 25 μM range. These results represent significant progress toward the goal of designing potent inhibitors of purine salvage inGiardia parasites. As a second step in this process, altering the phthalimide moiety to optimize interactions in the guanine-binding pocket of GPRT is expected to lead to compounds with promising activity against G. lamblia PRT.

Targeting MDM2-dependent serine metabolism as a therapeutic strategy for liposarcoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (547) ◽  
pp. eaay2163
Author(s):  
Madi Y. Cissé ◽  
Samuel Pyrdziak ◽  
Nelly Firmin ◽  
Laurie Gayte ◽  
Maud Heuillet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Nucleotide Synthesis ◽  
Metabolic Functions ◽  
Xenograft Models ◽  
Well Differentiated ◽  
Serine Metabolism

Well-differentiated and dedifferentiated liposarcomas (LPSs) are characterized by a systematic amplification of the MDM2 oncogene, which encodes a key negative regulator of the p53 pathway. The molecular mechanisms underlying MDM2 overexpression while sparing wild-type p53 in LPS remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the p53-independent metabolic functions of chromatin-bound MDM2 are exacerbated in LPS and mediate an addiction to serine metabolism that sustains nucleotide synthesis and tumor growth. Treatment of LPS cells with Nutlin-3A, a pharmacological inhibitor of the MDM2-p53 interaction, stabilized p53 but unexpectedly enhanced MDM2-mediated control of serine metabolism by increasing its recruitment to chromatin, likely explaining the poor clinical efficacy of this class of MDM2 inhibitors. In contrast, genetic or pharmacological inhibition of chromatin-bound MDM2 by SP141, a distinct MDM2 inhibitor triggering its degradation, or interfering with de novo serine synthesis, impaired LPS growth both in vitro and in clinically relevant patient-derived xenograft models. Our data indicate that targeting MDM2 functions in serine metabolism represents a potential therapeutic strategy for LPS.

Regulation of the purine salvage pathway in rat liver

1992 ◽  
Vol 262 (3) ◽  
pp. E344-E352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. A. Kim ◽  
M. T. King ◽  
W. E. Teague ◽  
G. A. Rufo ◽  
R. L. Veech ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rat Liver ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Equilibrium Constants ◽  
Purine Metabolism ◽  
Purine Salvage ◽  
Rate Limiting Step ◽  
Delta G ◽  
Salvage Pathways ◽  
Rate Limiting

The regulation of purine metabolism in rat liver has been examined under conditions that alter the flux through the pathway. Rats were given intraperitoneal injections of ethanol, sodium acetate, or sodium phosphate to attain body water concentrations of approximately 70, 20, and 10 mM, respectively. The livers were freeze-clamped after 30 min, and extracts were made for the analysis of metabolites, cofactors, purine bases, and nucleosides; homogenates were made for the measurement of the activities and kinetic parameters of seven enzymes that participate in purine salvage. The values of the equilibrium constants of nine reactions were determined in vitro and compared with the ratios of the reactants measured in liver. The changes in phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP), a key intermediate in both the de novo and salvage pathways of purine metabolism, were directly correlated with the changes in ribose 5-phosphate (ribose-5-P); ([PRPP] = 1.7[ribose-5-P] - 7.4 mumol/kg). Ribose-5-P concentrations in turn could be predicted from the liver content of fructose 6-phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate by calculation from the known equilibria. The maximum velocities in the tissue of the seven enzymes measured were calculated from the measured substrate values in the liver and with consideration of other effectors of enzyme activity. PRPP synthetase was the least active of the enzymes measured, indicating a possible rate-limiting step. The delta G of the enzyme steps differed from equilibrium values by factors ranging from 4 (nucleoside phosphorylase) to 10(5) (PRPP synthetase and purine transferase reactions). The regulation of purine salvage appeared to depend on the levels of PRPP and ribose-5-P.

Metabolism of adenine nucleotides in the cultured fetal mouse heart

1977 ◽  
Vol 233 (2) ◽  
pp. H282-H288
Author(s):  
I. A. Kaufman ◽  
N. F. Hall ◽  
M. A. DeLuca ◽  
J. S. Ingwall ◽  
S. E. Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Organ Culture ◽  
Adenosine Deaminase ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Adenine Nucleotide ◽  
Adenine Nucleotides ◽  
Energy Charge ◽  
Mouse Heart ◽  
Nucleotide Synthesis ◽  
Fetal Mouse ◽  
Deprivation Period

Intact beating fetal mouse hearts in organ culture were deprived of oxygen and glucose for up to 4 h, resulting in loss of beating, an 80% fall in ATP, reduction of energy charge from 0.85 to 0.48, and doubling of total nucleoside concentration. Radiolabeled adenine nucleotides were degraded to hypoxanthine and inosine, which were lost from the hearts into the medium during the deprivation period. Adenosine and adenine also appeared in the medium when adenosine deaminase was inhibited. After 24 h of O2 and glucose resupply, ATP returned to 60% of control, and energy charge rose to 0.76. Labeled nucleosides and bases remaining in the heart or exogenous labeled adenine were utilized to resynthesize ATP. [14C]glycine was rapidly taken up by recovering hearts but was not used for de novo adenine nucleotide synthesis. Ability to recover ATP and spontaneous contraction appear related to residual nucleotide and nucleoside content rather than to energy charge.

scholarly journals Distribution and vulnerability of transcriptional outputs across the genome in Myc-amplified medulloblastoma cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Yang ◽  
Wenzhe Wang ◽  
Meichen Dong ◽  
Kristen Roso ◽  
Paula Greer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Nucleotide Synthesis ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

Myc plays a central role in tumorigenesis by orchestrating the expression of genes essential to numerous cellular processes1-4. While it is well established that Myc functions by binding to its target genes to regulate their transcription5, the distribution of the transcriptional output across the human genome in Myc-amplified cancer cells, and the susceptibility of such transcriptional outputs to therapeutic interferences remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we analyze the distribution of transcriptional outputs in Myc-amplified medulloblastoma (MB) cells by profiling nascent total RNAs within a temporal context. This profiling reveals that a major portion of transcriptional action in these cells was directed at the genes fundamental to cellular infrastructure, including rRNAs and particularly those in the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA). Notably, even when Myc protein was depleted by as much as 80%, the impact on transcriptional outputs across the genome was limited, with notable reduction mostly only in genes involved in ribosomal biosynthesis, genes residing in mtDNA or encoding mitochondria-localized proteins, and those encoding histones. In contrast to the limited direct impact of Myc depletion, we found that the global transcriptional outputs were highly dependent on the activity of Inosine Monophosphate Dehydrogenases (IMPDHs), rate limiting enzymes for de novo guanine nucleotide synthesis and whose expression in tumor cells was positively correlated with Myc expression. Blockage of IMPDHs attenuated the global transcriptional outputs with a particularly strong inhibitory effect on infrastructure genes, which was accompanied by the abrogation of MB cells proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Together, our findings reveal a real time action of Myc as a transcriptional factor in tumor cells, provide new insight into the pathogenic mechanism underlying Myc-driven tumorigenesis, and support IMPDHs as a therapeutic vulnerability in cancer cells empowered by a high level of Myc oncoprotein.

scholarly journals Synthesis of ribonucleic acid in purine-deficient Escherichia coli and a comparison with the effects of amino acid starvation

1970 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. F. Varney ◽  
Gillian A. Thomas ◽  
K. Burton
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Ribonucleic Acid ◽  
Rna Synthesis ◽  
Adenine Nucleotides ◽  
Amino Acid Starvation ◽  
Guanine Nucleotides ◽  
Purine Nucleotides ◽  
Acid Control

1. Experiments with rifampicin and stringent strains of Escherichia coli (pro−purB−rel+) indicate that purine deficiency does not decrease and may considerably increase the potential for RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase molecules that are bound to DNA and have already commenced transcription. 2. DNA–RNA hybridization experiments indicate that purine starvation increases the distribution of bound RNA polymerase molecules between the cistrons for mRNA and those for stable RNA. 3. Synthesis of β-galactosidase mRNA is more dependent on the ability to synthesize guanine nucleotides than on the ability to synthesize adenine nucleotides. 4. Amino acid starvation tends to decrease the potential for RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase molecules bound to DNA. 5. Since this effect differs from that due to purine starvation, amino acid control of RNA synthesis does not appear to operate solely by causing a deficiency of purine nucleotides. 6. The results are discussed in terms of the ability to initiate RNA chains and to extend them under different circumstances.

scholarly journals A Review of the Potential Utility of Mycophenolate Mofetil as a Cancer Therapeutic

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazanin Majd ◽  
Kazutaka Sumita ◽  
Hirofumi Yoshino ◽  
Dillon Chen ◽  
Jumpei Terakawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mycophenolate Mofetil ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Cancer Therapeutics ◽  
Inosine Monophosphate Dehydrogenase ◽  
Purine Nucleotide ◽  
Antitumor Effects ◽  
Nucleotide Synthesis ◽  
Potential Target

Tumor cells adapt to their high metabolic state by increasing energy production. To this end, current efforts in molecular cancer therapeutics have been focused on signaling pathways that modulate cellular metabolism. However, targeting such signaling pathways is challenging due to heterogeneity of tumors and recurrent oncogenic mutations. A critical need remains to develop antitumor drugs that target tumor specific pathways. Here, we discuss an energy metabolic pathway that is preferentially activated in several cancers as a potential target for molecular cancer therapy. In vitro studies have revealed that many cancer cells synthesize guanosine triphosphate (GTP), via the de novo purine nucleotide synthesis pathway by upregulating the rate limiting enzyme of this pathway, inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH). Non-proliferating cells use an alternative purine nucleotide synthesis pathway, the salvage pathway, to synthesize GTP. These observations pose IMPDH as a potential target to suppress tumor cell growth. The IMPDH inhibitor, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), is an FDA-approved immunosuppressive drug. Accumulating evidence shows that, in addition to its immunosuppressive effects, MMF also has antitumor effects via IMPDH inhibition in vitro and in vivo. Here, we review the literature on IMPDH as related to tumorigenesis and the use of MMF as a potential antitumor drug.

scholarly journals The effects of adenine nucleotides and guanine nucleotides on urate synthesis de novo by isolated chick liver and kidney cells

1975 ◽  
Vol 148 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Badenoch-Jones ◽  
P J Buttery
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Adenine Nucleotides ◽  
Liver Cells ◽  
Guanine Nucleotides ◽  
Kidney Cells ◽  
Liver And Kidney

Isolated chick liver and kidney cells produce urate de novo from glycine, and this is partially inhibited by 1 mm-AMP and by 1 mm-GMP in liver cells but not in kidney cells. Azaserine fully inhibits this synthesis de novo, but attempts to isolate formylglycine amide ribonucleotide from azaserine-blocked cells were unsuccessful.

scholarly journals Crystallographic approach to fragment-based hit discovery against Schistosoma mansoni purine nucleoside phosphorylase

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Faheem ◽  
Napoleão Fonseca Valadares ◽  
José Brandão-Neto ◽  
Domenico Bellini ◽  
Patrick Collins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Screening Strategy ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
High Price ◽  
Salvage Pathway ◽  
Purine Salvage ◽  
Nucleotide Synthesis ◽  
Fragment Screening ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Purine Pathway

Several Schistosoma species cause Schistosomiasis, an endemic disease in 78 countries that is ranked second amongst the parasitic diseases in terms of its socioeconomic impact and human health importance. The drug recommended for treatment by the WHO is praziquantel (PZQ), but there are concerns associated with PZQ, such as the lack of information about its exact mechanism of action, its high price, its effectiveness – which is limited to the parasite’s adult form – and reports of resistance. The parasites lack the de novo purine pathway, rendering them dependent on the purine salvage pathway or host purine bases for nucleotide synthesis. Thus, the Schistosoma purine salvage pathway is an attractive target for the development of necessary and selective new drugs. In this study, the purine nucleotide phosphorylase II (PNP2), a new isoform of PNP1, was submitted to a high-throughput fragment-based hit discovery using a crystallographic screening strategy. PNP2 was crystallized and crystals were soaked with 827 fragments, a subset of the Maybridge 1000 library. X-ray diffraction data was collected and structures were solved. Out of 827-screened fragments we have obtained a total of 19 fragments that show binding to PNP2. 14 of these fragments bind to the active site of PNP2, while five were observed in three other sites. Here we present the first fragment screening against PNP2.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document