Measurement of nucleoside kinases in crude tissue extracts

2'-Deoxyadenosine metabolism in human and opossum Didelphis virginiana erythrocytes in vitro

1. In erythrocytes of both species, deamination and phosphorylation of dADO was completely inhibited by 5 microM 2'deoxycoformycin and 10 microM 5-ITU respectively. 2. Under physiologic conditions, provided with nanomolar concentrations of dADO there was complete deamination of dADO in human red cells. In opossum erythrocytes deamination and phosphorylation of the deoxynucleoside were nearly; additionally, 1-2% of the substrate was metabolized to AXP. 3. With ADA inhibited in intact red cells, apparent Km and Vmax for dADO were 0.5 vs 0.1 mM and 0.8 vs 6.25 mumol/g hg/hr in human and opossum cells, respectively. 4. In opossum red cell lysates, GTP was superior to ATP and to dATP as a phosphate donor in the dADO kinase reaction.

Changes in the activities of cytidine deaminase during differentiation of HL60 cells induced by 1,25 dihydroxy D3

The activities of the enzymes cytidine deaminase (CDD), deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), adenosine deaminase (ADA), and purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), have been investigated in the promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL60. The activities of the enzymes corresponded well with that seen in acute myeloid leukemia cells except, that the CDD activity was very low in the HL60 cells. Induction of differentiation in HL60 cells by 1,25 dihydroxy D3 resulted in an increase in CDD from 12 to 247 nmol/h/mg and a decrease in ADA from 1326 to 896 nmol/h/mg, while the activities of dCK, and PNP were unchanged. Retinoic acid, another used inducer of differentiation, gave no changes of the enzyme activities. The increase in CDD activity induced by 1,25 dihydroxy D3 was prevented by inhibition of protein synthesis, whereas inhibition of proliferation of the cells did not abolish the increase of CDD. The changes correspond well with the differences seen between immature and mature myeloid cells. The results may have consequences for the interpretation of results obtained with cytostatics, which are metabolized by the enzymes.

Direct assay of thymidine kinase bound to ion-exchange paper for dot spotting and enzyme blotting analysis

The direct assay of thymidine kinase (Tk) bound to ion-exchange paper was investigated as a means to further simplify the analytical procedure. Thymidine kinase bound firmly and quantitatively to ion-exchange paper at near neutral pH. The enzymatic properties of Tk did not change while bound to the ion-exchange paper. The amount of phosphorylated 125IdU or 125IdC formed on ion-exchange paper was proportional to the amount of applied Tk. Enzymatic activity could be determined visually by autoradiography or by gamma counting. This method was relatively independent of the protein concentration or volume of the sample and which allows the assay from dilute solutions. A simplified dot spot method that can be used for the assay of thymidine kinase activity in cell extracts is described. Thymidine kinase could also be visualized after electrophoresis and blotting on ion-exchange paper.

Regulation of deoxyadenosine and nucleoside analog phosphorylation by human placental adenosine kinase

The enzymes responsible for phosphorylation of adenosine and nucleoside analogs are important in the pathogenesis of adenosine deaminase deficiency and for the activation of specific anticancer and antiviral drugs. We examined the role of adenosine kinase in catalyzing these reactions using an enzyme purified 4000-fold (2.1 umol/min/mg) from human placenta. The Km values of adenosine and ATP are 135 uM and 4 uM, respectively. Adenosine kinase phosphorylates adenine arabinoside with an apparent Km value of 1 mM using adenosine kinase assay conditions. The Km values for 6-methylmercaptopurine riboside and 5-iodotubercidin, substrates for adenosine kinase, are estimated to be 4.5 uM and 2.6 nM, respectively. These data indicate that dadenosine phosphorylation by adenosine kinase is primarily regulated by its Km, and the concentrations of Mg2+, ADP and AMP. The high Km values for phosphorylation of dadenosine and adenine arabinoside suggest that adenosine kinase may be less likely to phosphorylate these nucleosides in vivo than other enzymes with lower Km values. Adenosine kinase appears to be important for adenosine analog phosphorylation where the Michaelis constant is in the low micromolar range.

Human placental nucleoside kinase activities

Our studies have indicated that normal human placental cytosol contains a complex mixture of nucleoside kinase enzymes, some of which conform to previously characterized activities. Deoxyadenosine is phosphorylated by deoxycytidine kinase, adenosine kinase, and two as yet uncharacterized activities. Deoxyguanosine phosphorylation is associated with deoxycytidine kinase. More complete and detailed studies will be necessary to characterize these enzymes fully.

Differential metabolism of deoxyribonucleosides by leukaemic T cells of immature and mature phenotype

Experimental evidence has indicated that T lymphoblasts are more sensitive to deoxynucleoside toxicity than are B lymphoblasts. These data have led to the use of purine enzyme inhibitors as selective chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of T cell malignancies ranging from T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia to cutaneous T cell lymphomas. We have compared the toxicities of 2'-deoxyadenosine, 2'-deoxyguanosine, and thymidine for T cell lines derived from patients with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with those for mature T cell lines derived from patients with cutaneous T cell leukaemia/lymphoma. We have found that both deoxynucleosides are far less toxic to the mature T cell lies than to T lymphoblasts and that the mature cells accumulate much lower amounts of dATP and dGTP when exposed to deoxyadenosine and deoxyguanosine, respectively. Similar studies performed on peripheral blood cells from patients with T cell leukaemias of mature phenotype and on peripheral blood T cells demonstrate similar low amounts of deoxynucleotide accumulation. Measurements of the activities of several purine metabolizing enzymes that participate in deoxynucleoside phosphorylation or degradation do not reveal differences which would explain the toxicity of deoxynucleosides for immature, as compared to mature, T cells. We conclude that deoxynucleoside metabolism in leukaemic T cells varies with their degree of differentiation. These observations may be relevant to the design of chemotherapeutic regimes for T cell malignancies.