Regulation of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthesis in human fibroblasts by the concentration of inorganic phosphate.

During the growth cycle of normal fibroblasts and of fibroblasts deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, the concentration of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate and of Pi, as well as the activity of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthetase, decreased to stable values in confluent cultures. A high degree of correlation (0.89 and 0.91 for two normal and 0.69 for one glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient cell strain, respectively) was shown between intracellular Pi, and 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate concentrations under varying culture and incubation conditions. 5-Phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate concentrations were elevated in normal fibroblasts incubated with methylene blue only if intracellular Pi levels were high. Neither methylene blue nor 6-aminonicotinamide, singly, affected intracellular Pi concentrations. However, when normal cells were pretreated with 6-aminonicotinamide and then with methylene blue, intracellular Pi decreased, 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate was depleted, and its rate of generation decreased. Under similar conditions, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient fibroblasts maintained unaltered Pi levels, and 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate concentration and generation were slightly increased. The decrease in intracellular Pi in normal cells after the combined treatment was commensurate with an accumulation of 6-phosphogluconate, which did not take place in mutant cells. The changes in 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthesis, whether due to the stage of growth or various experimental manipulations, were always concordant with changes in intracellular Pi level. The regulatory role of Pi is consistent with the known enzymic properties of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthetase.