Enzymatic synthesis of ATP analogs and their purification by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

The enzymatic syntheses of ATP analogs, such as tubercidin 5'-triphosphate, formycin A 5'-triphosphate, and etheno-ATP, from their respective mono- and diphosphate are described. The reaction products were purified by reverse-phase HPLC using a C-18 matrix and a volatile mobile phase at pH 7, with tributylamine as the ion-pairing agent. Each of the analogs required a buffer of somewhat different composition for the baseline separation of reaction product and reactants. The elutions were isocratic and allowed several successive runs without any intermediate equilibration of the column. After freeze-drying of the pooled fractions, the yield of the synthesized nucleoside triphosphate was approximately 70%. The described procedures are applicable either for analytical investigations or for semi-preparative purposes.

In vitro processing of the adenosine analog formycin A to the mono-, di-, and triphosphate by a soluble multienzyme system from mouse liver.

The adenosine kinase activity present in a soluble preparation from rat liver was investigated using formycin A (FoA), a fluorescent analog of adenosine as the phosphoryl acceptor and ATP as the donor. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (h.p.l.c.) was used to separate substrate from product, and the progress of the phosphorylation reaction was followed by monitoring fluorometrically the amount of formycin 5'-monophosphate (FoMP), and the AMP analog, that was formed. The results showed that while FoMP was formed during the reaction indicating that an adenosine kinase activity was present, both formycin 5'-di- and triphosphate (FoDP and FoTP respectively), the corresponding analogs of ADP and ATP, were also formed, suggesting than an adenylate kinase activity was present. This result was confirmed with FoMP as the substrate and showing the formation of FoDP and FoTP. Other experiments carried out with FoMP as the substrate revealed the formation of FoA. Taken together, these results indicated that a 5'-nucleotidase activity as well as an adenylate kinase was present. Using this analog and h.p.l.c., it has been possible to demonstrate for the first time in an in vitro system the complete salvage of a nucleoside to the triphosphate level.