A Low-Cost Mass Spectrometry-Based Approach for Quantifying Purines in Placental Extracts

Hyperhomocysteinemia is a medical condition characterized by an abnormally high level of homocysteine in the blood associated with multiple human pathologies including preeclampsia – the most feared complication of pregnancy, with placenta playing the central role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. The developing placenta is highly sensitive to different adverse factors but its response to hyperhomocysteinemia is not fully clear. Previously we have demonstrated the activation of reactions of methionine cycle and the transsulfuration pathway in placental explants cultivated with homocysteine. The reactions of the methionine cycle are tightly connected with reactions of the folate cycle, encompassing reactions of de novo purine biosynthesis, which are crucial for the developing placenta, as they support rapid ATP generation to maintain energy status and increased biosynthesis of macromolecules. The sensitivity of de novo purine biosynthesis to hyperhomocysteinemia is not known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of homocysteine on placental de novo purine biosynthesis. Methods We developed a simplified method to measure the level of all and newly formed purines by HPLC/ESI-MS, using a stable isotope glycine to label newly synthesized purines. The developed method proved to be highly sensitive, interday repeatable and intraday reproducible. We applied a method for placental explants from the first and third trimesters of gestation and MCF7 cells cultivated with 20 μM and 40 μM homocysteine corresponding to its concentrations at mild and intermediate hyperhomocysteinemia. Results The developed method proved to be highly sensitive, interday repeatable and intraday reproducible. The content of total purines in placental explants from the first trimester of gestation was around 9.0 μmol/g wet tissues at specified conditions of cultivation. The newly formed purines comprised around 1 % of total purines, decreased steadily in explants cultivated with 20 μM and 40 μM homocysteine, and reached the values characteristic for explants from third trimester cultivated without homocysteine, 4.0 μmol/g wet tissues. The effect of homocysteine reproduced with MCF7 cells. Conclusion Homocysteine in concentrations characteristic of mild and intermediate hyperhomocysteinemia induces the down regulation of de novo purine biosynthesis in placental explants, and implies the shift of metabolic pathway to homocysteine remethylation and transsulfuration at the expense of de novo purine biosynthesis. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.