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Journal List > Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A > v.91(2); Jan 18, 1994

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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 January 18; 91(2): 742–746.
PMCID: PMC43025
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Hyperuricemia and urate nephropathy in urate oxidase-deficient mice.
X Wu, M Wakamiya, S Vaishnav, R Geske, C Montgomery, Jr, P Jones, A Bradley, and C T Caskey
Institute for Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
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Abstract
Urate oxidase, or uricase (EC 1.7.3.3), is a purine metabolic enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of uric acid to allantoin in most mammals except humans and certain other primates. The loss of urate oxidase in the human during primate evolution predisposes man to hyperuricemia, a metabolic disturbance that can lead to gouty arthritis and renal stones. To create a mouse model for hyperuricemia and gout, and to address the question of whether urate oxidase is essential in lower mammalian species, we have disrupted the urate oxidase gene in the mouse by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Unlike the human situation, urate oxidase deficiency in mice causes pronounced hyperuricemia and urate nephropathy. More than half of the mutant mice died before 4 weeks of age, indicating that urate oxidase is essential in mice. These mutant mice may also serve as animal models for hyperuricemia and its related nephropathy in humans.
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Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
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