Reverse effect of guanine on the inhibitory action of mycophenolic acid during nucleic acid synthesis.

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) was demonstrated to inhibit DNA and RNA synthesis in L1210 cells strongly; however these effects were remarkably reduced by guanine. The presence of MPA in the medium decreased the guanine nucleotide contents (GMP, GDP, GTP) of the cells, but the addition of guanine reversed this effect. We have reported previously that MPA had no inhibitory effect on hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRTase) activity. Together these findings suggest that the decrease of guanine nucleotides induced by MPA is restored by GMP, which is formed from guanine by HGPRTase in the cells. It is speculated that a suppressor of HGPRTase activity, such as 6-mercaptopurine, may protect the antitumor activity of MPA by preventing the conversion of guanine to GMP.