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Enzymatic synthesis of [3H]Cytidine 5'-diphospho-1, 2-diacyl-sn-glycerol
1Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA.
Abstract:
Cytidine 5'-diphospho-1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol (CDP-diacylglycerol; CDP-DG) is an important intermediate in the biosynthesis of the major glycerophosphate-based phospholipids of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This compound is expensive to purchase and inefficient to prepare chemically. Radiolabeled CDP-diacylglycerol is unavailable commercially. We describe a simple and inexpensive method to synthesize [3H]CDP-DG enzymatically. The three-step enzymatic procedure includes phosphorylation of [3H]glycerol to sn-[3H]glycerol 3-phosphate (G3P) by glycerokinase,acylation of [3H]G3P to [3H]phosphatidic acid (PA) by G3P acyltransferase, and conversion of [3H]PA and CTP to [3H]CDP-DG by CDP-DG synthase. This procedure is considerably less labor intensive and less expensive than is chemical synthesis, and the yield is at least 30%.
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