Pentose phosphates are heterocyclic, five-membered, oxygen-containing phosphorylated ring structures, with ribose-5-phosphate (Rib-5-P) and 2-deoxyribose-5-phosphate (deoxyRib-5-P) being basal structures of ribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides, respectively, and 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate (PRPP) the common precursor of both de novo and 'salvage' synthesis of nucleotides. Two main pathways are involved in pentose phosphate biosynthesis (Fig. 1). In the oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway, Rib-5-P is generated from glucose-6-phosphate. In the phosphorylase-mediated pathway, deoxyribose-1- Ribose phosphates are either synthesized through the oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway, or are supplied by nucleoside phosphorylases. The two main pentose phosphates, ribose-5-phosphate and ribose-1-phosphate, are readily interconverted by the action of phosphopentomutase. Ribose-5-phosphate is the direct precursor of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate, for both de novo and 'salvage' synthesis of nucleotides. Phosphorolysis of deoxyribonucleosides is the main source of deoxyribose phosphates, which are interconvertible, through the action of phosphopentomutase.The pentose moiety of all nucleosides can serve as a carbon and energy source. During the past decade, extensive advances have been made in elucidating the pathways by which the pentose phosphates, arising from nucleoside phosphorolysis, are either recycled, without opening of their furanosidic ring, or catabolized as a carbon and energy source. We review herein the experimental knowledge on the molecular mechanisms by which (a) ribose-1-phosphate, produced by purine nucleoside phosphorylase acting catabolically, is either anabolized for pyrimidine salvage and 5-fluorouracil activation, with uridine phosphorylase acting anabolically, or recycled for nucleoside and base interconversion; (b) the nucleosides can be regarded, both in bacteria and in eukaryotic cells, as carriers of sugars, that are made available though the action of nucleoside phosphorylases. In bacteria, catabolism of nucleosides, when suitable carbon and energy sources are not available, is accomplished by a battery of nucleoside transporters and of inducible catabolic enzymes for purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and for pentose phosphates. In eukaryotic cells, the modulation of pentose phosphate production by nucleoside catabolism seems to be affected by developmental and physiological factors on enzyme levels.Abbreviations

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Purines and pyrimidines, regarded for a long time only as building blocks for nucleic acid synthesis and intermediates in the transfer of metabolic energy, gained increasing attention since genetically determined aberrations in their metabolism were associated clinically with various degrees of mental retardation and/or unexpected and often devastating neurological dysfunction. In most instances the molecular mechanisms underlying neurological symptoms remain undefined. This suggests that nucleotides and nucleosides play fundamental but still unknown roles in the development and function of several organs, in particular central nervous system. Alterations of purine and pyrimidine metabolism affecting brain function are spread along both synthesis (PRPS, ADSL, ATIC, HPRT, UMPS, dGK, TK), and breakdown pathways (5NT, ADA, PNP, GCH, DPD, DHPA, TP, UP), sometimes also involving pyridine metabolism. Explanations for the pathogenesis of disorders may include both cellular and mitochondrial damage: e.g. deficiency of the purine salvage enzymes hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase and deoxyguanosine kinase are associated to the most severe pathologies, the former due to an unexplained adverse effect exerted on the development and/or differentiation of dopaminergic neurons, the latter due to impairment of mitochondrial functions. This review gathers the presently known inborn errors of purine and pyrimidine metabolism that manifest neurological syndromes, reporting and commenting on the available hypothesis on the possible link between specific enzymatic alterations and brain damage. Such connection is often not obvious, and though investigated for many years, the molecular basis of most dysfunctions of central nervous system associated to purine and pyrimidine metabolism disorders are still unexplained.

Brain relies on circulating nucleosides, mainly synthesised de novo in the liver, for the synthesis of nucleotides, RNA, nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, coenzymes, and pyrimidine sugar- and lipid-conjugates. Essentially, the paths of nucleoside salvage in the brain include a two step conversion of inosine and guanosine to IMP and GMP, respectively, and a one step conversion of adenosine, uridine, and cytidine, to AMP, UMP, and CMP, respectively. With the exception of IMP, the other four nucleoside monophosphates are converted to their respective triphosphates via two successive phosphorylation steps. Brain ribonucleotide reductase converts nucleoside diphosphates to their deoxy counterparts. The delicate qualitative and quantitative balance of intracellular brain nucleoside triphosphates is maintained by the relative concentrations of circulating nucleosides, the specificity and the K(m) values of the transport systems and of cytosolic and mitochondrial nucleoside kinases and 5'-nucleotidases, and the relative rates of nucleoside triphosphate extracellular release. A cross talk between extra- and intra-cellular nucleoside metabolism exists, in which released nucleoside triphosphates, utilised as neuroactive signals, are catabolised by a membrane bound ectonucleotidase cascade system to their respective nucleosides, which are uptaken into brain cytosol, and converted back to nucleoside triphosphates by the salvage enzymes. Finally, phosphorolysis of brain nucleosides generates pentose phosphates, which are utilised for nucleoside interconversion, 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthesis, and energy repletion. This review focuses on these aspects of brain nucleoside metabolism, with the aim of giving a comprehensive picture of the metabolic network of nucleosides in normoxic conditions, with some hints on the derangements in anoxic/ischemic conditions.

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