Purine nucleotides are eventually degraded to ammonia and carbon dioxide. This pathway follows the degradation of AMP to a urate intermediate in the cytosol via xanthine conversion from hypoxanthine. First, AMP deaminase catalyzes the conversion of AMP is into IMP. Second, the predicted enzyme 5′-nucleotidase (coloured orange in the image) is theorized to convert IMP into inosine. Third, ribonucleoside hydrolase converts inosine into hypoxanthine. Fourth, xanthine dehydrogenase is an enzyme that requires [2Fe-2S] cluster, FAD, and Moco as cofactors for catalyzing two subsequent reaction in the AMP degradation pathway: the conversion of hypoxanthine into xanthine and the conversion of xanthine into urate.

AMP Degradation (Hypoxanthine Route) References