Inherited deficiency of the enzyme purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) results in selective and severe T lymphocyte depletion which is mediated by its substrate, 2'-deoxyguanosine. This observation provides a rationale for the use of PNP inhibitors as selective T cell immunosuppressive agents. We have studied the relative effects of the PNP inhibitor 8-aminoguanosine on the metabolism and gro...

Guanosine produced by fermentation is one of the nucleosides most readily available on an industrial scale. We have recently developed several processes leading to known antiviral agents starting with guanosine. The processes involve enzymatic transglycosylation for stavudine (d4T), chemical transpurination for acyclovir and ganciclovir, and novel alkylauon for penciclovir and famciclovir. Intr...

We have shown previously that induced maturation of the human myeloid leukemia cell line, HL-60, is associated with a selective down-regulation of guanine ribonucleotide synthesis and depletion of intracellular guanosine triphosphate (GTP) and guanosine diphosphate (GDP) pools. We showed, furthermore, that inhibitors of the enzyme, inosine monophosphate (IMP) dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the ...

This study was undertaken to determine if salvage of nucleic acid precursors might constitute a mechanism of resistance to acivicin in human colon cancer cells and, if so, to establish whether dipyridamole, an inhibitor of nucleoside and nucleobase transport, can block the salvage process and restore sensitivity to acivicin. Acivicin inhibited the replication of human colon cancer cells (VACO 5...

OBJECTIVE Kirsten rat sarcoma (K-Ras) protein is a member of Ras family belonging to the small guanosine triphosphatases superfamily. The members of this family share a conserved structure and biochemical properties, acting as binary molecular switches. The guanosine triphosphate-bound active K-Ras interacts with a range of effectors, resulting in the stimulation of downstream signaling pathway...

The mechanisms by which adenosine triphosphate, thrombin, and trypsin cause relaxation of vascular smooth muscle were investigated. Relaxation of the rat thoracic aorta with adenosine triphosphate, thrombin, and/or trypsin was associated with increased levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate in both time- and concentration-dependent manners. Thrombin and trypsin did not alter cyclic adenosine ...

In previous studies of transcription and splicing of the ribosomal RNA precursor in isolated Tetrahymena nuclei, we found that the intervening sequence (IVS) was excised as a unique linear RNA molecule and was subsequently cyclized. In the present work, transcription at low monovalent cation concentration is found to inhibit splicing and to lead to the accumulation of a splicing intermediate. T...

Atomic mutagenesis has emerged as a powerful tool to unravel specific interactions in complex RNA molecules. An early extensive study of analogs of the exogenous guanosine nucleophile in group I intron self-splicing by Bass and Cech demonstrated structure-function relationships analogous to those seen for protein ligands and provided strong evidence for a well-formed substrate binding site made...

Purine nucleotide catabolism is common to most organisms and involves a guanine deaminase to convert guanine to xanthine in animals, invertebrates, and microorganisms. Using metabolomic analysis of mutants, we demonstrate that Arabidopsis thaliana uses an alternative catabolic route employing a highly specific guanosine deaminase (GSDA) not reported from any organism so far. The enzyme is ubiqu...

Two forms of ATP:GTP 3'-pyrophosphotransferase (guanosine pentaphosphate synthetase) have been purified from Streptomyces antibioticus. The larger form has an M(r) of 88,000, while the M(r) of a smaller form is 47,000. Both synthetase forms are active in the formation of guanosine 5'-triphosphate, 3'-diphosphate in reaction mixtures containing methanol. Unlike the RelA protein from Escherichia ...