Nucleotide Metabolism I Flashcards
Synthesizes the parental purine from scratch on a ribophosphate backbone
Purine de novo pathway
Synthesizes the parental pyrimidine from scratch and THEN attaches it to the ribophosphate backbone
Pyrimidine de novo pathway
Recycles an existing ring structure and attaches it to a ribophosphate backbone
The salvage cycle for purines and pyrimidines
All nucleotides are comprised of which three entities?
Sugar, phosphate, and a base
Comprise the backbone structure of the nucleotide
The sugar and phosphate
Composed of a two ring structure
Purines (adenine and guanine)
Composed of a single ring structure
Pyrimidines (cytosine, thymine, and uracil)
When we have just a base and ribose, but no phosphate, we have a
Nucleoside (adenosine, guanosine, cytidine, uridine, and thymidine)
Step 1 of de novo purine synthesis is creating the
Ribose phosphate backbone (PRPP)
The source of the ribose phosphate moiety in all pathways of nucleotide synthesis for both purines and pyrimidines
PRPP
Ribose-5-phosphate is converted to PRPP by the enzyme
PRPP synthetase
How much ATP is required for the conversion of R-5-P to PRPP?
1 ATP
Activated by inorganic phosphate, signifying a need for nucleotides
PRPP synthetase
PRPP synthetase is inhbited by the
Purine ribonucleotides (ADP, ATP, GDP, GTP)
What is the committed step of purine synthesis?
Conversion of PRPP tp PRA
Which enzyme catalyzes the committed step of purine synthesis?
PRPP-amido-transferase
In the conversion of PRPP to PRA, PRPP receives an amie group from
-releases a high energy pyrophosphate
Glutamine
Effectively activated by its substrate, PRPP, because PRPP concentrations are held well below the enzyme’s saturation capacity
PRPP-amido-transferase
PRPP-amido-transferase is inhibited by
AMP, GMP, and IMP
Irreversible inhibitors of PRPP-amido-transferase
-structurally similar to glutamine
Azaserine and DON
Azaserine and DON are potent inhibitors of
Purine nucleotide metabolism
Nine more steps, all of which are unregulated, convert PRA to
IMP
A parental purine because it serves as the precursor to the purines AMP and GMP
IMP
How many molecules of ATP are consumed in the conversion of PRA to IMP
4 ATP
What are the 5 contributors toward making the purine ring of IMP?
CO2, Aspartate, Glycine, Glutamine, and THF
Essential for the synthesis of purines
THF
Humans create THF by modifying
Dietary folic acid
Dietary Folic acid is converted to dihydrofolate (DHF) and then to THF by the enzyme
DHF Reductase (DHFR)
Inhibit DHFR, thereby stifling nucleotide synthesis and killing rapidly growing tumores
Chemotherapeutic agents such as aminopterin and methotrexate
Another DHFR inhibitor. Binds much more strongly to bacterial DHFR, making it an effective antibiotic
Trimethoprim
Unlike humans, who rely on dietary folic acid, bacteria synthesize their own folate from a molecule called
PABA
Antibiotics structurally similar to PABA, which competitively inhibit folic acid synthesis in bacteria
The Sulfonamides
IMP is committed to becoming either
AMP or GMP
The conversion process of IMP to either AMP or GMP requires
2 steps
Required for the conversion of IMP to adenylosuccinate
GTP and aspartate
The enzyme which converts IMP to adenylosuccinate is inhibited by
AMP
In a second reaction, adenylosuccinate is converted to AMP, a process which results in the release of
Fumarate
IMP is converted to the intermediate XMP by the enzyme IMP dehydrogenase. This requires
NAD+
IMP dehydrogenase is inhibited by
GMP
Required for the conversion of XMP to GMP
ATP and glutamine
An antiviral used to treat hepatitis C that also inhibits IMP dehydrogenase
Ribavirin