Dinucleosidetetraphosphatase from Ehrlich ascites tumour cells: inhibition by adenosine, guanosine and uridine 5'-tetraphosphates.

1. An enzyme has been partially purified from Ehrlich ascites tumour cells which specifically hydrolyses dinucleosidetetraphosphates, with Km values of around 2 microM. The products of the hydrolysis are the corresponding nucleoside tri- and monophosphates. Dinucleoside Tri- and diphosphates were not substrates of the reaction. 2. The enzyme requires Mg2+ or Mn2+, is maximally active at a pH value of approx. 7.5 and has a mol, wt of 19,800 as estimated by filtration on Sephadex G-75. Nucleoside mono-, di- and triphosphates were competitive inhibitors of the reaction with Ki values in the 0.1 mM range. 3. Particularly relevant is the inhibition of this enzyme by adenosine and guanosine 5'tetraphosphates. In the course of this investigation, the presence of uridine 5'-tetraphosphate was detected in a commercial preparation of UTP. Adenosine, guanosine and uridine 5'-tetraphosphates were very strong inhibitors of the reaction with Ki values in the nM range.