Purine metabolism

Purine Metabolism is a crucial biological process involving the metabolic pathways to synthesize and break down purines that are present in many organisms.

Overview

Purines are key components of cellular energy systems (e.g., ATP, adenosine triphosphate), signaling (e.g., GTP, guanosine triphosphate, cAMP, cyclic adenosine monophosphate), and, along with pyrimidines, RNA and DNA production.

Purine Synthesis

Purine synthesis begins with PRPP, 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate, and ends with the production of IMP, inosine monophosphate, a nucleotide. IMP can then be converted into either AMP, adenosine monophosphate, or GMP, guanosine monophosphate.

Purine Salvage

Purine salvage is the recovery of purine bases and nucleosides that are formed during the degradation of nucleotides and nucleic acids. The purine bases and nucleosides can be converted back into nucleotides via salvage pathways.

Purine Degradation

Purine degradation or catabolism occurs when purine nucleotides are broken down in the body. The end product of purine degradation in humans is uric acid.

Disorders of Purine Metabolism

Disorders of purine metabolism can lead to a variety of clinical manifestations, including gout, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, and PRPP synthetase superactivity.

See Also

• Nucleotide
• Nucleic acid
• DNA
• RNA
• ATP
• GTP
• cAMP
• Uric acid
• Gout
• Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
• PRPP synthetase superactivity

Purine metabolism Resources
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