تسجيل الدخول

تسجيل

Biosynthesis and Degradation of Nucleotides:- Purine and Pyrimidine Bases Are Recycled by Salvage Pathways

المؤلف:  David L. Nelson، Michael M. Cox

المصدر:  Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry

الجزء والصفحة:  875

2026-07-08

66

Biosynthesis and Degradation of Nucleotides:- Purine and Pyrimidine Bases Are Recycled by Salvage Pathways

Free purine and pyrimidine bases are constantly released in cells during the metabolic degradation of nucleotides. Free purines are in large part salvaged and reused to make nucleotides, in a pathway much simpler than the de novo synthesis of purine nucleotides described earlier. One of the primary salvage pathways consists of a single reaction catalyzed by adenosine phosphoribosyltransferase, in which free adenine reacts with PRPP to yield the corresponding adenine nucleotide:

Adenine+ PRPP→ AMP +PPi

Free guanine and hypoxanthine (the deamination product of adenine; Fig. 1) are salvaged in the same way by hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl trans ferase. A similar salvage pathway exists for pyrimidine bases in microorganisms, and possibly in mammals. A genetic lack of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase activity, seen almost ex clusively in male children, results in a bizarre set of symptoms called Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. Children with this genetic disorder, which becomes manifest by the age of 2 years, are sometimes poorly coordinated and mentally retarded. In addition, they are extremely hostile and show compulsive self-destructive tendencies: they mutilate themselves by biting off their fingers, toes, and lips. The devastating effects of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome illustrate the importance of the salvage pathways. Hy poxanthine and guanine arise constantly from the breakdown of nucleic acids. In the absence of hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, PRPP levels rise and purines are overproduced by the de novo pathway, resulting in high levels of uric acid production and gout like damage to tissue (see below). The brain is especially dependent on the salvage pathways, and this may account for the central nervous system damage in children with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. This syndrome is another target of early trials in gene therapy.

Fig. 1