Studies of the Regulation of Purine Nucleotide Catabolism

Ehrlich ascites tumor cells containing radioactive ATP were incubated in vitro with a range of concentrations of 2-deoxyglucose in order to produce different rates of ATP catabolism. Concentrations of all radioactive products of ATP catabolism were measured, and apparent rates of adenylate deaminase and inosinate dehydrogenase and of adenylate and inosinate dephosphorylation were calculated. It was concluded that these processes were regulated primarily by the rate of formation of substrate, and to a lesser extent in some cases, by substrate concentration. No evidence was obtained for regulation of these processes by the concentration of ATP. The deoxyglucose-induced catabolism of radioactive GTP was also studied. When ATP catabolism was induced by incubation with 2,4-dinitrophenol, time courses of accumulation of purine nucleoside monophosphates and rates of alternative pathways of their metabolism were quite different than when deoxyglucose was used.