5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl 5'-Monophosphate (AICAR), a Highly Conserved Purine Intermediate with Multiple Effects

AICAR (5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl 5'-monophosphate) is a natural metabolic intermediate of purine biosynthesis that is present in all organisms. In yeast, AICAR plays important regulatory roles under physiological conditions, notably through its direct interactions with transcription factors. In humans, AICAR accumulates in several metabolic diseases, but its contribution to the symptoms has not yet been elucidated. Further, AICAR has highly promising properties which have been recently revealed. Indeed, it enhances endurance of sedentary mice. In addition, it has antiproliferative effects notably by specifically inducing apoptosis of aneuploid cells. Some of the effects of AICAR are due to its ability to stimulate the AMP-activated protein kinase but some others are not. It is consequently clear that AICAR affects multiple targets although only few of them have been identified so far. This review proposes an overview of the field and suggests future directions.