The 2 known types of pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylases, uridine phosphorylase (UP\; EC 2.4.2.3) and thymidine phosphorylase (TP\; EC 2.4.2.4), in the presence of orthophosphate, catalyze the reversible phosphorolysis of uridine and thymidine or deoxyuridine, respectively, to free bases and ribose-1-phosphate or deoxyribose-1-phosphate. Pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylases can add ribose or deoxyribose to pyrimidine bases to form nucleosides that can be incorporated into RNA or DNA (Watanabe and Uchida, 1995 [PubMed 7488099]).[supplied by OMIM, Aug 2009].
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