Functional elucidation of the AMP metabolic pathway in Archaea

为了阐明古生代AMP代谢途径的功能，对组成该途径的酶进行了生化和结构分析。结果表明，AMP代谢途径被AMP和ADP显著激活，不仅能降解AMP，还能降解CMP和UMP。这些结果表明，当细胞内能量水平较低，而AMP/ADP浓度较高时，该途径的生理功能可能与细胞外核苷酸的同化和/或从AMP/CMP/UMP中回收能量有关。

In order to elucidate the function of an archaeal AMP metabolic pathway, biochemical and structural analyses of enzymes composing the pathway were performed. The results revealed that the AMP metabolic pathway is dramatically activated by AMP and ADP and degrades not only AMP but also CMP and UMP. These results suggested that the physiological functions of this pathway may be involved in the assimilation of extracellular nucleotides and/or in salvaging energy from AMP/CMP/UMP when intracellular energy levels are low, and AMP/ADP concentrations are relatively high.