SAICAR is an intermediate in purine metabolism. SAICAR is converted from 5-amino-1-(5-phospho-D-ribosyl) imidazole-4-carboxylate (CAIR, Carboxy-AIR, carboxyaminoimidazole ribotide; CAS 6001-14-5) by phosphoribosylaminoimidazole-succinocarboxamide synthase (SAICAR synthase). SAICAR (a ribotide) can lose its phosphate group leading to the appearance of a riboside known as succinylaminoimidazolecarboxamide riboside (SAICAriboside or SAICAr) in cerebrospinal fluid, in urine, and, to a lesser extent, in plasma. When present in sufficiently high levels, SAICAR can act as an oncometabolite, where it promotes tumour growth & survival under glucose-limited conditions by stimulating pyruvate kinase isoform M2 (PKM2) and promoting aerobic glycolysis.
Human pyruvate kinase isoform M2 (PKM2) is a glycolytic enzyme isoform implicated in cancer. Malignant cancer cells have higher levels of dimeric PKM2, which is regarded as an inactive form of tetrameric pyruvate kinase. This perceived inactivity has fueled controversy
Abnormal metabolism and sustained proliferation are hallmarks of cancer. Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is a metabolic enzyme that plays important roles in both processes. Recently, PKM2 was shown to have protein kinase activity phosphorylating histone H3 and promoting cancer cell
Purine homeostasis is ensured through a metabolic network widely conserved from prokaryotes to humans. Purines can either be synthesized de novo, reused, or produced by interconversion of extant metabolites using the so-called recycling pathway. Although thoroughly characterized in microorganisms, such
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