Mechanisms of deoxyguanosine lymphotoxicity. Human thymocytes, but not peripheral blood lymphocytes accumulate deoxy-GTP in conditions simulating purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency.

This study was designed to simulate purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) deficiency by preincubating with guanosine (Guo) to minimize PNP activity while investigating the metabolism of [14C] deoxyguanosine (dGuo) at physiologic concentrations (10 microM) by unstimulated thymocytes, tonsil-derived T and B lymphocytes, and peripheral blood cells over short time periods. GTP was the principal metabolite formed from dGuo by all cell types with functional PNP and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, confirming formation via degradation to guanine with subsequent salvage by hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Thymocytes also formed a small amount of deoxyguanosine triphosphate (dGTP), presumably through direct phosphorylation by deoxycytidine kinase.