Question

HPRT (Hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase) in purine salvage pathways

A) Converts hypoxanthine to inosine
B) Converts adenine to guanine
C) Converts guanine to xanthine
D) Converts uracil to cytosine

Answer 1

HPRT in purine salvage pathways converts hypoxanthine to inosine monophosphate, a key step in recycling free purine bases to form nucleotides.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the context of purine salvage pathways, the enzyme Hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase, also known as HPRT or HGPRT, catalyzes the reaction that converts hypoxanthine to inosine monophosphate. This enzyme plays a crucial role in recycling purines from hypoxanthine and guanine by adding them to 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate (5-PRPP) to form their respective nucleotides, including inosine monophosphate from hypoxanthine. Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, a disorder resulting from a deficiency in HPRT activity, highlights the importance of this enzyme in the purine salvage pathway.