Pleiotropic role of Drosophila phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase in autophagy and lysosome homeostasis.

Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase (PRPS) is a rate-limiting enzyme whose function is important for the biosynthesis of purines, pyrimidines, and pyridines. Importantly, while missense mutations of PRPS1 have been identified in neurological disorders such as Arts syndrome, how they contribute to neuropathogenesis is still unclear. We identified the Drosophila ortholog of PRPS (dPRPS) as a direct target of RB/E2F in Drosophila, a vital cell cycle regulator, and engineered dPRPS alleles carrying patient-derived mutations. Interestingly, while they are able to develop normally, dPRPS mutant flies have a shortened lifespan and locomotive defects, common phenotypes associated with neurodegeneration. Careful analysis of the fat body revealed that patient-derived PRPS mutations result in profound defects in lipolysis, macroautophagy, and lysosome function. Significantly, we show evidence that the nervous system of dPRPS mutant flies is affected by these defects. Overall, we uncovered an unexpected link between nucleotide metabolism and autophagy/lysosome function, providing a possible mechanism by which PRPS-dysfunction contributes to neurological disorders.

Direct role of nucleotide metabolism in C-MYC-dependent proliferation of melanoma cells.

To identify C-MYC targets rate-limiting for proliferation of malignant melanoma, we stably inhibited C-MYC in several human metastatic melanoma lines via lentivirus-based shRNAs approximately to the levels detected in normal melanocytes. C-MYC depletion did not significantly affect levels of E2F1 protein reported to regulate expression of many S-phase specific genes, but resulted in the repression of several genes encoding enzymes rate-limiting for dNTP metabolism. These included thymidylate synthase (TS), inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase 2 (IMPDH2) and phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase 2 (PRPS2). C-MYC depletion also resulted in reduction in the amounts of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) and inhibition of proliferation. shRNA-mediated suppression of TS, IMPDH2 or PRPS2 resulted in the decrease of dNTP pools and retardation of the cell cycle progression of melanoma cells in a manner similar to that of C-MYC-depletion in those cells. Reciprocally, concurrent overexpression of cDNAs for TS, IMPDH2 and PRPS2 delayed proliferative arrest caused by inhibition of C-MYC in melanoma cells. Overexpression of C-MYC in normal melanocytes enhanced expression of the above enzymes and increased individual dNTP pools. Analysis of in vivo C-MYC interactions with TS, IMPDH2 and PRPS2 genes confirmed that they are direct C-MYC targets. Moreover, all three proteins express at higher levels in cells from several metastatic melanoma lines compared to normal melanocytes. Our data establish a novel functional link between C-MYC and dNTP metabolism and identify its role in proliferation of tumor cells.

[Historical review of gout and hyperuricemia investigations].

Historical development of gout and hyperuricemia investigations was reviewed. Gout has been a recognized disease since the fifth century B.C. In 1683, Sydenham described the detailed clinical features of the disease based on his own condition. Leeuwenhoek (1679) first described crystals in a gouty tophus, which were identified as uric acid by Wollaston (1797). Since uric acid clearance of hyperuricemia was markedly lower than that in normal controls, early investigators considered that the main cause of hyperuricemia was urate underexcretion. However, in the 1940s, studies on uric acid metabolism using isotope tracer techniques demonstrated that a part of hyperuricemia resulted from urate overproduction, which was detected in approximately one-third of all gouty patients. In the 1970s, micropuncture, microinjection and microperfusion methods as well as stop-flow methods demonstrated that uric acid transports in nephron were suspected to consist of four steps, that were glomerular filtration, reabsorption, secretion and postsecretory reabsorption. The majority of filtrated uric acid was almost completely reabsorbed, followed by secretion and postsecretory reabsorption at a proximal site in the tubulus. Each proportion of transports to the glomerular filtration(100%) was estimated approximately 99%, 50% and 40%, respectively. Subsequently, about 10% of the filtrate was excreted in the urine. The authors (1999) suggested that the secretion rate of hyperuricemic patients was significantly lower than that of normal controls but postsecretory reabsorption was not. Therefore, the decrease in the secretion rate was suspected to be the main cause of underexcretion. Dunkan (1960) reported a family demonstrating hyperuricemia associated with severe renal damage that progressed rapidely. Currently, this disease is called familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy (FJHN), and was recently found to be the result of a variation in uromodulin. Enomoto (2002) found a number of urate transporters in the cell surface of the tubulus, among which URAT1 was the most effective in reabsorbing urate from the tubulus lumen to the cells. The urate was released to the blood vessel side by the other transporter OAT. Therefore, URAT1 was suspected to be a cause of underexcretion. As the mechanism underlying overproduction of uric acid, de novo purine nucleotide synthesis has been shown to be increased. In some cases, the increase in de novo synthesis is the result of gene mutation in purine nucleotide synthesis enzymes, such as PRPP synthetase (Sperling, 1973) as well as hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase (Seegmiller, 1967). However, the mechanism in majority of the overproduction has not yet been clarified and is currently under investigation.

[Increased activity of PRPP synthetase].

PRPP(phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate) synthetase catalyzes the formation of PRPP from ATP and ribose 5-phosphate. Human PRPP synthetase exists as heterogeneous aggregates composed of the 34kDa catalytic subunits (PRSI and PRSII) and other 39kDa and 41kDa components designated PRPP synthetase-associated protein (PAP39 and PAP41). A syndrome of increased activity of PRPP synthetase, an X-linked dominant-inherited disorder, is one of the models of gout caused by increased production of uric acid. By now, around twenty cases have been reported over the world. Two different molecular mechanisms underlie this syndrome: (1) point mutation in the gene coding the primary structure of PRPP synthetase causes the substitution of an amino acid residue and, consequently, the regulatory defects, those are resistant traits to allosteric nucleotide feedback inhibition; (2) increased transcription of PRPP synthetase mRNA causes overproduction of this enzyme protein. The mechanism producing increased mRNA is, however, not elucidated. The Japanese case has been found to be caused by the second mechanism.

Kinetic and regulatory properties of rat liver phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase complex are partly distinct from those of isolated recombinant component catalytic subunits.

Rat liver phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) synthetase exists as complex aggregates composed of two catalytic subunits (PRS I and II, in a ratio of approximately 4:1) and two catalytically inactive PRPP synthetase-associated proteins. To better understand the significance of the complex structure, the properties of the native liver enzyme were compared with those of homologous aggregates of recombinant PRS I and PRS II (rPRS I and rPRS II). (1) The specific activity per catalytic subunits of the liver enzyme was about 2.5 times lower than that of rPRS I over a wide pH range. Km values for substrates and Ka values for Pi and Mg2+ of the three enzymes were similar. (2) Specific activity of the liver enzyme for the reverse reaction was about 2 times lower than those of rPRSs. Km values for substrates of the three enzymes were comparable. (3) The liver enzyme was more stable than were rPRSs when incubated at a high temperature or in the absence of stabilizing agents. (4) The liver enzyme was markedly less sensitive to inhibition by nucleotides compared to rPRS I. GDP at 1 mM inhibited the liver enzyme and rPRS I by 32 and 93%, respectively. This effect is not ascribable to molecular interaction between rPRS I and II, as reconstitution of the two did not alter the sensitivity to nucleotide inhibition. (5) Our observations suggest that complex aggregation states of the native enzyme not only suppress the activities but also stabilize the catalytic subunits and the associated proteins and remarkably reduce the sensitivity to inhibition by nucleotides.

Phosphoribosyl diphosphate synthetase-independent NAD de novo synthesis in Escherichia coli: a new phenotype of phosphate regulon mutants.

Phosphoribosyl diphosphate-lacking (delta prs) mutant strains of Escherichia coli require NAD, guanosine, uridine, histidine, and tryptophan for growth. NAD is required by phosphoribosyl diphosphate-lacking mutants because of lack of one of the substrates for the quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase reaction, an enzyme of the NAD de novo pathway. Several NAD-independent mutants of a host from which prs had been deleted were isolated; all of them were shown to have lesions in the pstSCAB-phoU operon, in which mutations lead to derepression of the Pho regulon. In addition NAD-independent growth was dependent on a functional quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase. The prs suppressor mutations led to the synthesis of a new phosphoryl compound that may act as a precursor for a new NAD biosynthetic pathway. This compound may be synthesized by the product of an unknown phosphate starvation-inducible gene of the Pho regulon because the ability of pst or phoU mutations to suppress the NAD requirement requires PhoB, the transcriptional activator of the Pho regulon.

Regulation of purine synthesis de novo in human fibroblasts by purine nucleotides and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate.

Previous studies of purine nucleotide synthesis de novo have suggested that major regulation of the rate of the pathway is affected at either the phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PP-Rib-P) synthetase reaction or the amidophosphoribosyltransferase (amido PRT) reaction, or both. We studied control of purine synthesis de novo in cultured normal, hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT)-deficient, and PP-Rib-P synthetase-superactive human fibroblasts by measuring concentrations and rates of synthesis of PP-Rib-P and purine nucleotide end products, proposed effectors of regulation, during inhibition of the pathway. Incubation of cells for 90 min with 0.1 mM azaserine, a glutamine antagonist which specifically blocked the pathway at the level of conversion of formylglycinamide ribotide, resulted in a 5-16% decrease in purine nucleoside triphosphate concentrations but no consistent alteration in generation of PP-Rib-P. During this treatment, however, rates of the early steps of the pathway were increased slightly (9-15%) in normal and HGPRT-deficient strains, more markedly (32-60%) in cells with catalytically superactive PP-Rib-P synthetases, and not at all in fibroblasts with purine nucleotide feedback-resistant PP-Rib-P synthetases. In contrast, glutamine deprivation, which inhibited the pathway at the amido PRT reaction, resulted in time-dependent nucleoside triphosphate pool depletion (26-43% decrease at 24 h) accompanied by increased rates of PP-Rib-P generation and, upon readdition of glutamine, substantial increments in rates of purine synthesis de novo. Enhanced PP-Rib-P generation during glutamine deprivation was greatest in cells with regulatory defects in PP-Rib-P synthetase (2-fold), but purine synthesis in these cells was stimulated only 1.4-fold control rates by glutamine readdition. Stimulation of these processes in normal and HGPRT-deficient cells and in cells with PP-Rib-P synthetase catalytic defects was, respectively: 1.5 and 2.0-fold; 1.5 and 1.7-fold; and 1.6 and 4.1-fold. These studies support the following concepts. 1) Rates of purine synthesis de novo are regulated at both the PP-Rib-P synthetase and amido PRT reactions by end products, with the latter reaction more sensitive to small changes in purine nucleotide inhibitor concentrations. 2) PP-Rib-P exerts its role as a major regulator of purine synthetic rate by virtue of its interaction with nucleotide inhibitors to determine the activity of amido PRT. 3) Activation of amido PRT by PP-Rib-P is nearly maximal at base line in fibroblasts with regulatory defects in PP-Rib-P synthetase.