Nucleic acid metabolism
Nucleic acid metabolism is a collective term that refers to the variety of chemical reactions by which
Synthesis of nucleotides
Nucleotides are the monomers which polymerize into nucleic acids. All nucleotides contain a sugar, a phosphate, and a nitrogenous base. The bases found in nucleic acids are either purines or pyrimidines. In the more complex multicellular animals, they are both primarily produced in the liver but the two different groups are synthesized in different ways. However, all nucleotide synthesis requires the use of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) which donates the ribose and phosphate necessary to create a nucleotide.
Purine synthesis
that add additional phosphates.ATP stimulates production of GTP, while GTP stimulates production of ATP. This cross regulation keeps the relative amounts of ATP and GTP the same. Excess of either nucleotide could increase the likelihood of DNA mutations, where the wrong purine nucleotide is inserted.[1]
Lesch–Nyhan syndrome is caused by a deficiency in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase or HGPRT, the enzyme that catalyzes the reversible reaction of producing guanine from GMP. This is a sex-linked congenital defect that causes overproduction of uric acid along with mental retardation, spasticity, and an urge to self-mutilate.[1][2][3]
Pyrimidine synthesis
Pyrimidine nucleosides include
ATP, a purine nucleotide, is an activator of pyrimidine synthesis, while CTP, a pyrimidine nucleotide, is an inhibitor of pyrimidine synthesis. This regulation helps to keep the purine/pyrimidine amounts similar, which is beneficial because equal amounts of purines and pyrimidines are required for DNA synthesis.[1][6]
Deficiencies of enzymes involved in pyrimidine synthesis can lead to the genetic disease Orotic aciduria which causes excessive excretion of orotic acid in the urine.[1][7]
Converting nucleotides to deoxynucleotides
Nucleotides are initially made with
In order to synthesize thymidine, a component of DNA which only exists in the deoxy form, uridine is converted to deoxyuridine (by ribonucleotide reductase), and then is methylated by thymidylate synthase to create thymidine.[1]
Degradation of nucleic acids
The breakdown of DNA and RNA is occurring continuously in the cell. Purine and pyrimidine nucleosides can either be degraded to waste products and excreted or can be salvaged as nucleotide components.[5]
Pyrimidine catabolism
Cytosine and uracil are converted into
Pyrimidine bases can also be salvaged. For example, the uracil base can be combined with ribose-1-phosphate to create uridine monophosphate or UMP. A similar reaction can also be done with thymine and deoxyribose-1-phosphate.[8]
Deficiencies in enzymes involved in pyrimidine catabolism can lead to diseases such as Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency which has negative neurological effects.[9]
Purine catabolism
Purine degradation takes place mainly in the liver of humans and requires an assortment of enzymes to degrade purines to uric acid. First, the nucleotide will lose its phosphate through 5'-nucleotidase. The nucleoside, adenosine, is then deaminated and hydrolyzed to form hypoxanthine via adenosine deaminase and nucleosidase respectively. Hypoxanthine is then oxidized to form xanthine and then uric acid through the action of xanthine oxidase. The other purine nucleoside, guanosine, is cleaved to form guanine. Guanine is then deaminated via guanine deaminase to form xanthine which is then converted to uric acid. Oxygen is the final electron acceptor in the degradation of both purines. Uric acid is then excreted from the body in different forms depending on the animal.[5]
Free purine and pyrimidine bases that are released into the cell are typically transported intercellularly across membranes and salvaged to create more nucleotides via nucleotide salvage. For example, adenine +
Defects in purine catabolism can result in a variety of diseases including gout, which stems from an accumulation of uric acid crystals in various joints, and adenosine deaminase deficiency, which causes immunodeficiency.[10][11][12]
Interconversion of nucleotides
Once the nucleotides are synthesized they can exchange phosphates among one another in order to create mono-, di-, and tri-phosphate molecules. The conversion of a nucleoside-diphosphate (NDP) to a nucleoside-triphosphate (NTP) is catalyzed by
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9780470129302.
- PMID 4575865.
- ^ "Lesch-Nyhan". Lesch-Nyhan.org. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- PMID 35893264.
- ^ ISBN 978-0716771081.
- ^ "Nucleotide Metabolism II". Oregon State. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- S2CID 13215215.
- ^ a b "Nucleotide Metabolism". The Medical Biochemistry Page. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ^ "Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency". Genetics Home Reference. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "Nucleotides: Their Synthesis and Degradation". Molecular Biochemistry II. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- PMID 24365355.
- ^ "Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency". Learn.Genetics. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.