A reductive uric acid degradation pathway in anaerobic bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Uric acid (UA) is a key intermediate in purine degradation across diverse organisms, while its accumulation in humans leads to inflammation and gout disease. Aerobic organisms degrade UA via a well-known "oxidative pathway" involving dearomatization of the purine core catalyzed by UA oxidases or dehydrogenases. The ability to degrade UA is also widespread in anaerobic bacteria, including gut bacteria, although the mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here, we report the biochemical characterization of a recently identified UA degradation gene cluster from Escherichia coli, and show that it encodes a "reductive pathway" for UA degradation. In this pathway, UA is first reduced to 2,8-dioxopurine (yanthine) by a xanthine dehydrogenase homolog (XdhD), followed by dearomatization of t

SUBMITTER: Li Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12507026 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature