A facile synthesis of 5-(perfluoroalkyl)-pyrimidines.
(33/1786)
In the paper a synthetic two stage procedure is described for the preparation of perfluoroalkylated derivatives of uracil and its nucleosides. Using copper bronze a perfluoroalkyl-copper-complex is formed from perfluoralkyl iodides in polar aprotic solvents, such as DMSO, and under inert conditions. The reaction of this complex with uracil, uridine and 2-deoxyuridine leads to the corresponding 5-substituted perfluoralkyl derivatives. It is shown by mass spectra that the substitution always takes place at the 5-position of the pyrimidine. The chemical and physical properties of the formed compounds are described. (+info)
Ribonucleoprotein particles containing heterogeneous nuclear RNA in the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum.
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As in higher eukaryotes, heterogeneous nuclear RNA (HNRNA) in the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum is associated with proteins in the form of ribonucleoprotein particles. Mixing experiments with deproteinized hnRNA establish that the nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles are not formed artificially during isolation. In contrast to comparable material from mammalian cells (polydisperse, 40-25- S), Dictyostelium heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles sediment at only 55 S in sucrose gradients, possibly reflecting the smaller size of slime mold hnRNA relative to the large hnRNA found in higher eukaryotes. The RNA of the nuclear 55S ribonucleoprotein particles is shown to be hnRNA by virtue of its size (15S), content of polyadenylate sequences, and hybridization kinetics at DNA excess. The hnRNA-associated porteins are electrophoretically complex and have molecular weights between 20,000 and 150,000. In 0.35 M NaCl most of the proteins are released from the hnRNA. However, a single protein of 72,000-74,000 molecular weight remains bound, as indicated by its co-chromatography with the RNA on poly(U)-Sepharose and banding in Cs2SO4. The same protein is recovered when heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein is digested with T1 ribonuclease under conditions where the poly(A) is nuclease-resistant. The 73,000 molecular weight protein appears to be specifically bound to polyadenylate sequences in Dictyostelium hrRNA. (+info)
X-ray crystallographic visualization of drug-nucleic acid intercalative binding: structure of an ethidium-dinucleoside monophosphate crystalline complex, Ethidium: 5-iodouridylyl (3'-5') adenosine.
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We have cocrystallized the drug ethidium bromide with the dinucleoside monophosphate 5-iodouridylyl(3'-5')adenosine and have solved the three-dimensional structure to atomic resolution by x-ray crystallography. This has allowed the direct visualization of intercalative binding by this drug to a fragment of a nucleic acid double helix. (+info)
Correlation between uracil and dihydrouracil plasma ratio, fluorouracil (5-FU) pharmacokinetic parameters, and tolerance in patients with advanced colorectal cancer: A potential interest for predicting 5-FU toxicity and determining optimal 5-FU dosage.
(36/1786)
PURPOSE: Patients with genetic fluorouracil (5-FU) catabolic deficiencies are at high risk for severe toxicity. To predict 5-FU catabolic deficiencies and toxic side effects, we conducted a prospective study of patients treated for advanced colorectal cancer by high-dose 5-FU. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty-one patients were treated with weekly infusions of 5-FU and folinic acid. The initial 5-FU dose of 1,300 mg/m(2) was individually adjusted according to a dose-adjustment chart. Plasma concentrations of uracil (U) and its dihydrogenated metabolite, dihydrouracil (UH(2)), were measured before treatment, and the ratio of UH(2) to U was calculated. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies were conducted to look for a relationship between the ratio of UH(2) to U and 5-FU metabolic outcome and tolerance. RESULTS: The UH(2)-U ratios were normally distributed (mean value, 2.82; range, 0.35 to 7.13) and were highly correlated to (1) 5-FU plasma levels after the first course of treatment (r =.58), (2) 5-FU plasma clearance (r =.639), and (3) individual optimal therapeutic 5-FU dose (r =.65). Toxic side effects were observed only in patients with initial UH(2)-U ratios of less than 1.8. No adverse effects were noted in patients with UH(2)-U ratios of greater than 2.25. CONCLUSION: The UH(2)-U ratio, easily determined before treatment, could help to identify patients with metabolic deficiency and, therefore, a risk of toxicity. (+info)
Eniluracil treatment completely inactivates dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase in colorectal tumors.
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PURPOSE: To determine the effect of eniluracil on colorectal tumor dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) activity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who were to undergo primary colorectal tumor resection received oral eniluracil 10 mg/m(2) twice daily for 3 days before surgery. Mononuclear cells were obtained before the start of eniluracil and on the morning of surgery, to measure DPD activity, protein, and mRNA. Plasma uracil was also measured at these two time points to assess the effect of eniluracil on pyrimidine accumulation. DPD activity, protein, and mRNA were also assessed in colorectal tumors and adjacent normal mucosa of patients who received eniluracil and untreated control patients. RESULTS: DPD activity in tumors from 10 untreated patients ranged from 30 to 92 pmol/min/mg of protein. In contrast, there was no detectable tumor DPD activity in 10 patients who received eniluracil. A similar pattern was observed in mononuclear cells, where median pretherapy activity was 366.5 pmol/min/mg of protein (range, 265 to 494 pmol/min/mg of protein) and was undetectable immediately before surgery. Plasma uracil changed from a median less than 0.2 micromol/L before therapy to 27.76 micromol/L before surgery. No difference in DPD protein or mRNA was observed between pretherapy and presurgery mononuclear cell samples or between treated and untreated tumor samples. CONCLUSION: This study provides definitive evidence that eniluracil completely inactivates DPD activity in human solid tumors. The increased plasma uracil and decreased DPD activity are consistent with systemic inactivation of the enzyme. The mechanism of inactivation is at the catalytic level, because no changes in DPD protein or mRNA were observed. Treatment with eniluracil will eliminate DPD activity as a source of pharmacokinetic fluorouracil variability or resistance in human colorectal cancer. (+info)
The modified base J is the target for a novel DNA-binding protein in kinetoplastid protozoans.
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DNA from Kinetoplastida contains the unusual modified base beta-D-glucosyl(hydroxymethyl)uracil, called J. Base J is found predominantly in repetitive DNA and correlates with epigenetic silencing of telomeric variant surface glycoprotein genes in Trypanosoma brucei. We have now identified a protein in nuclear extracts of bloodstream stage T.brucei that binds specifically to J-containing duplex DNA. J-specific DNA binding was also observed with extracts from the kinetoplastids Crithidia fasciculata and Leishmania tarentolae. We purified the 90 kDa C.fasciculata J-binding protein 50 000-fold and cloned the corresponding gene from C.fasciculata, T.brucei and L.tarentolae. Recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli demonstrated J-specific DNA binding. The J-binding proteins show 43-63% identity and are unlike any known protein. The discovery of a J-binding protein suggests that J, like methylated cytosine in higher eukaryotes, functions via a protein intermediate. (+info)
Ribose 1-phosphate and inosine activate uracil salvage in rat brain.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism by which inosine activates pyrimidine salvage in CNS. The levels of cerebral inosine, hypoxanthine, uridine, uracil, ribose 1-phosphate and inorganic phosphate were determined, to evaluate the Gibbs free energy changes (deltaG) of the reactions catalyzed by purine nucleoside phosphorylase and uridine phosphorylase, respectively. A deltaG value of 0.59 kcal/mol for the combined reaction inosine+uracil <==> uridine+hypoxanthine was obtained, suggesting that at least in anoxic brain the system may readily respond to metabolite fluctuations. If purine nucleoside phosphorolysis and uridine phosphorolysis are coupled to uridine phosphorylation, catalyzed by uridine kinase, whose activity is relatively high in brain, the three enzyme activities will constitute a pyrimidine salvage pathway in which ribose 1-phosphate plays a pivotal role. CTP, presumably the last product of the pathway, and, to a lesser extent, UTP, exert inhibition on rat brain uridine nucleotides salvage synthesis, most likely at the level of the kinase reaction. On the contrary ATP and GTP are specific phosphate donors. (+info)
The relationship of thermodynamic stability at a G x U recognition site to tRNA aminoacylation specificity.
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The G x U pair at the third position in the acceptor helix of Escherichia coli tRNA(Ala) is critical for aminoacylation. The features that allow G x U recognition are likely to include direct interaction of alanyl-tRNA synthetase with distinctive atomic groups and indirect recognition of the structural and stability information encoded in the sequence of G x U and its immediate context. The present work investigates the thermodynamic stability and acceptor activity for a comprehensive set of variant RNAs with substitutions of the G x U pair of E. coli tRNA(Ala). The four RNAs with Watson-Crick substitutions had a lower acceptor activity and a higher stability relative to the G x U RNA. On the other hand, the RNAs with mispair substitutions had a lower stability, but either a higher or a lower acceptor activity. Thus, the entire set of variant RNAs does not exhibit a correlation between thermodynamic stability of the free, unbound tRNA and its acceptor activity. The substantial acceptor activity of tRNAs with particular mispair substitutions may be explained by their ability to assume the conformational preferences of alanyl-tRNA synthetase. Moreover, the G x U pair may provide a point of deformability for the substrate tRNA to adapt to the enzyme's active site. (+info)