Hypoxanthine nucleotides synthesis in fresh and stored human erythrocytes.

Human erythrocytes incubated in inosine-pyruvate-phosphate (IPP) medium are able to accumulate great amounts of inosine monophosphate (IMP) and inosine triphosphate (ITP). Accumulation of ITP is low in freshly drawn cells. It increases during blood storage in acid-citrate-dextrose solution. Addition of labelled inosine or hypoxanthine to the IPP medium allowed to show the synthesis of small amounts of inosine diphosphate and the appearance of radioactivity in the ATP fraction. Conditions of incubation and the pathways of hypoxanthine nucleotides synthesis are discussed.