Incorporation of the enantiomers of lipoic acid into the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from Escherichia coli in vivo.
The uptake of 35S-labelled enantiomers of lipoic acid into cells from Escherichia coli was studied. The R-enantiomer was taken up by a factor of two more efficiently than the S-form. Autoradiography of polyacrylamide gels of partially purified pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from these cells showed that only the R-lipoic acid was covalently incorporated as a cofactor into the dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.
Autoradiography↗