Deoxyribonucleotide formation converts ribonucleotide pools into the balanced deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) pools required for faithful DNA replication and repair. Ribon…
Purine de novo synthesis constructs the purine ring atom-by-atom on ribose 5-phosphate, generating inosine monophosphate (IMP), the common precursor of AMP and GMP. The pathway su…
Humans degrade purine nucleotides to uric acid (present predominantly as urate at physiologic pH), which is excreted mainly by the kidney and, to a lesser extent, the intestine. U…
Purine salvage conserves preformed purine bases and nucleosides by reconverting them into nucleotides, thereby avoiding the high energetic cost of de novo synthesis. It is particu…
Pyrimidine de novo synthesis first constructs the six-membered pyrimidine ring and then attaches it to PRPP, in contrast to purine synthesis, which builds the ring directly on rib…
Pyrimidine nucleotides are degraded to highly water-soluble, small metabolites rather than to a poorly soluble terminal product such as urate. Uracil yields beta-alanine, whereas …