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Biopterin

II. Evidence for cerebral synthesis of 7,8-dihydrobiopterin in vivo and in vitro

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Abstract

The active synthesis of [14C]7,8-dihydrobiopterin (BH2) from intraventricularly administered U-[14C]GTP was demonstrated in rat brain. The identity of [14C]BH2 isolated from brain was confirmed by mass fragmentography. Evidence is presented that [14C]BH2 in brain was not synthesized in the peripheral organs. The rate of cerebral synthesis of [14C]BH2 from [14C]GTP was maximal at 2 h; it was 0.53 nmol/g per h, which is consistent with the estimated turnover rate of cerebral BH2 (0.43 nmol/g per h). Intraventricularly injected 2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine (DAOPyr) and 6-thioguanosine were effective inhibitors of the synthesis. U-[14C]dGTP and 8-[14C]GTP, when given intraventricularly, did not yield [14C]BH2. Simultaneous intraventricular injection of U-[14C]GTP and DAOPyr resulted in the accumulation of a compound with properties identical to a formamidopyrimidine derivative isolated from the nonenzymatic hydrolysis of GTP. The data from preliminary experiments demonstrated the synthesis of [14C]BH2 from U-[14C]GTP incubated with 12,000g supernatants of rat brain homogenates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurochemical Research Laboratories Department of Psychiatry College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, Iowa

    E. M. Gál & A. D. Sherman

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  1. E. M. Gál
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  2. A. D. Sherman
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Gál, E.M., Sherman, A.D. Biopterin. Neurochem Res 1, 627–639 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00965603

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00965603

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