Hypoxanthine

Hypoxanthine is a necessary additive in certain cells, bacteria, and parasite cultures as a substrate and nitrogen source. For example, it is commonly a required reagent in malaria parasite cultures, since Plasmodium falciparum requires a source of hypoxanthine for nucleic acid synthesis and energy metabolism. In August 2011, a report, based on NASA studies with meteorites found on Earth, was published suggesting hypoxanthine and related organic molecules, including the bases of the DNA and RNA components adenine and guanine, which were found in trace amounts in meteorites, may have been formed by reactions occurring extraterrestrially in outer space. The Pheretima aspergillum worm, used in Chinese medicine preparations, contains hypoxanthine. It is one of the products of the action of xanthine oxidase on xanthine. However, more frequently in purine degradation, xanthine is formed from oxidation of hypoxanthine by xanthine oxidoreductase. Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase converts hypoxanthine into IMP in nucleotide salvage.