Induction of adenine salvage in mouse cell lines deficient in adenine phosphoribosyltransferase.

Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) (EC 2.4.2.7) pseudorevertant cell lines were isolated under selective conditions requiring adenine salvage for survival; yet they were found to be deficient in measurable APRT activity and resistant to the purine analog 2'6'-diaminopurine (DAP) (M.S. Turker, J. A. Tischfield, P. Rabinovitch, P.J. Stambrook, J.J. Trill, A.C. Smith, C.E. Ogburn, and G.M. Martin, manuscript in preparation). Adenine salvage was examined in two APRT pseudorevertant cell lines, their two APRT homozygous deficient parental cell lines, and a genotypic APRT revertant cell line (i.e., one with measurable APRT activity and DAP sensitivity). Adenine accumulation was observed in both revertant phenotypes and was demonstrated by high-performance liquid chromatography to be linked with adenine metabolism. The ability to salvage adenine declined substantially in the pseudorevertant cell lines when they were removed from selective media containing inhibitors of de novo 5'-AMP synthesis (alanosine and azaserine); for one pseudorevertant cell line this decline was accelerated by the addition of DAP to the medium. The readdition of alanosine or azaserine to the growth medium of the pseudorevertant lines induced adenine salvage to its previous levels. An APRT-like cross-reacting material was found in the pseudorevertant cell lines, although its relationship to adenine salvage is unknown. A low level of constitutive adenine salvage was found in the parental APRT-deficient lines, and it was also possible to induce adenine salvage in these cell lines. These findings suggest a novel regulatory mechanism for adenine salvage.