| Description | Uracil, also known as U, belongs to the class of organic compounds known as pyrimidones. Pyrimidones are compounds that contain a pyrimidine ring, which bears a ketone. Pyrimidine is a 6-membered ring consisting of four carbon atoms and two nitrogen centers at the 1- and 3- ring positions. Uracil is a common naturally occurring pyrimidine found in RNA. It base pairs with adenine and is replaced by thymine in DNA. Uracil is one of the four nucleobases in RNA that are represented by the letters A, G, C and U. Methylation of uracil produces thymine. The name "uracil" was coined in 1885 by the German chemist Robert Behrend, who was attempting to synthesize derivatives of uric acid. Originally discovered in 1900, uracil was isolated by hydrolysis of yeast nuclein that was found in bovine thymus and spleen, herring sperm, and wheat germ. Uracil exists in all living species, ranging from bacteria to plants to humans. Uracil's use in the body is to help carry out the synthesis of many enzymes necessary for cell function through bonding with riboses and phosphates. Uracil serves as an allosteric regulator and a coenzyme for many important biochemical reactions. Uracil (via the nucleoside uridine) can be phosphorylated by various kinases to produce UMP, UDP and UTP. UDP and UTP regulate carbamoyl phosphate synthetase II (CPSase II) activity in animals. Uracil is also involved in the biosynthesis of polysaccharides and in the transport of sugars containing aldehydes. Within humans, uracil participates in a number of enzymatic reactions. In particular, uracil and ribose 1-phosphate can be biosynthesized from uridine; which is mediated by the enzyme uridine phosphorylase 2. In addition, uracil can be converted into dihydrouracil through the action of the enzyme dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase [NADP(+)]. Uracil is rarely found in DNA, and this may have been an evolutionary change to increase genetic stability. This is because cytosine can deaminate spontaneously to produce uracil through hydrolytic deamination. Therefore, if there were an organism that used uracil in its DNA, the deamination of cytosine (which undergoes base pairing with guanine) would lead to formation of uracil (which would base pair with adenine) during DNA synthesis. Uracil can be used for drug delivery and as a pharmaceutical. When elemental fluorine reacts with uracil, it produces 5-fluorouracil. 5-Fluorouracil is an anticancer drug (antimetabolite) that mimics uracil during the nucleic acid (i.e. RNA) synthesis and transcription process. Because 5-fluorouracil is similar in shape to, but does not undergo the same chemistry as, uracil, the drug inhibits RNA replication enzymes, thereby blocking RNA synthesis and stopping the growth of cancerous cells. |
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