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Biomedical subjects

L Hue

Publications and source records attributed to L Hue.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Inhibition of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase activity by mercaptopurines.

The activity of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (PFK-2), the enzyme that catalyses the synthesis of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2), was inhibited by mercaptopurines in vitro. Inhibition was observed with the purified enzyme from rat liver and bovine heart, and in extracts from rat lymphocytes and hepatoma cells, chick embryo fibroblasts, and human HeLa and lymphoblastoid cells. Half-maximal effect was obtained with 0.1-0.2 mM mercaptopurine and maximal inhibition ranged between 50 and 90% depending on the enzyme preparation. The inhibition resulted from a decrease in Vmax with no change in Km for ATP. The inhibition was relieved by treatment of the enzyme with thiol reducing agents, suggesting that it involves the formation of a mixed disulfide between mercaptopurine and thiol group(s) essential for enzyme activity. Incubation of intact lymphocytes or lymphoblastoid cells with 2- or 6-mercaptopurine resulted in a decrease in Fru-2,6-P2 content and lactate release. A decrease in Fru-2,6-P2 content but no change in lactate release was observed in HeLa cells and fibroblasts treated with 6-mercaptopurine but not with 2-mercaptopurine. Treatment of HeLa cells with 6-mercaptopurine resulted in a decreased PFK-2 activity which could be restored by treatment of the cell extract with dithiothreitol. In isolated rat hepatocytes and perfused rat hearts mercaptopurines had little or no effect on the Fru-2,6-P2 content and lactate release. These results suggest that the effect of 6-mercaptopurine of arresting growth in lymphoid cells might involve the inhibition of glycolysis in addition to the known inhibition of de novo purine nucleotide synthesis.

Animals↗

Global ischaemia induces a biphasic response of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Anoxic pre-perfusion protects against ischaemic damage.

Studies of Langendorff-perfused rat hearts have revealed a biphasic response of the mitochondrial respiratory chain to global ischaemia. The initial effect is a 30-40% increase in the rate of glutamate/malate oxidation after 10 min of ischaemia, owing to an increase in the capacity for NADH oxidation. This effect is followed by a progressive decrease in these oxidative activities as the ischaemia is prolonged, apparently owing to damage to Complex I at a site subsequent to the NADH dehydrogenase component. This damage is exacerbated by reperfusion, which causes a further decrease in Complex I activity and also decreases the activities of the other complexes, most notably of Complex III. Perfusion for up to 1 h with anoxic buffer produced only the increase in NADH oxidase activity, and neither anoxia alone, nor anoxia and reperfusion, caused loss of Complex I activity. Perfusing for 3-10 min with anoxic buffer before 1 h of global ischaemia had a significant protective effect against the ischaemia-induced damage to Complex I.

Animals↗

Oral administration of vanadate to diabetic rats restores liver 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase content and mRNA.

Vanadate and insulin were administered to diabetic (streptozotocin) rats to compare their effects on the activity and mRNA content of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase and L-type pyruvate kinase in the liver. The activity of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase in livers of diabetic rats was about 40% of that found in normal rats. A similar decrease was found for 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase content, measured by immunoprecipitation, and for mRNA, measured by hybridization of Northern blots. Administration of vanadate to the diabetic rats led to a progressive recovery of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase activity, and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose- 2,6-bisphosphatase content and mRNA. This recovery, which was complete after 15 days of oral treatment, was also obtained after 60 h of insulin administration. L-type pyruvate kinase activity and mRNA were also decreased by about 70% in livers of diabetic rats. Both parameters normalized after 15 days of vanadate treatment, whereas insulin administration (60 h) raised L-pyruvate kinase mRNA three-fold above control values. Oral treatment for 15 days with vanadate can thus mimic the effect of insulin on both pyruvate kinase and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6- bisphosphatase in livers of diabetic rats.

Administration, Oral↗

Swelling of rat hepatocytes activates acetyl-CoA carboxylase in parallel to glycogen synthase.

Incubation of hepatocytes in conditions known to increase their volume, i.e. with amino acids or in hypo-osmotic media, resulted in the parallel activation of glycogen synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase. The activation of both enzymes by glutamine was antagonized by the addition of raffinose to prevent cell swelling, or by glucagon and microcystin. The findings are consistent with the involvement of a common mechanism for the activation of the two enzymes.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase↗

A rat gene encoding heart 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase.

There are at least 3 isozymes of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase, a bifunctional enzyme which catalyzes the synthesis and degradation of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. A 22-kb rat gene that encodes the heart isozyme has been identified and compared with the 55-kb rat gene encoding the liver and muscle isozymes which had been described earlier. Although these 2 genes include 12 successive similar exons, they contain dissimilar exons at both ends, consistent with the occurrence of different regulatory domains at the N- and C-termini in the 3 isozymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Comparison of the effects of various amino acids on glycogen synthesis, lipogenesis and ketogenesis in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Several amino acids were found to stimulate glycogen synthesis and lipogenesis, and to inhibit ketogenesis in isolated rat hepatocytes. When hepatocytes were incubated in the presence of 20 mM-glucose, the amino acids could be classified in decreasing order of efficiency as follows: glutamine and proline, alanine, aminoisobutyric acid, asparagine and histidine for stimulation of glycogen synthesis; glutamine, proline and alanine for stimulation of lipogenesis; proline and glutamine for inhibition of ketogenesis. The study of the time course revealed that the rates were not linear and were preceded by a lag period. In all conditions studied, glutamine and proline were found to have similar quantitative effects on glycogen synthesis and lipid metabolism. However, their effects differ qualitatively. Indeed, the effects of proline on glycogen synthesis, lipogenesis and glutamate and aspartate content were faster. Moreover, proline increased the hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate ratio, whereas glutamine did not change it. Incubation of hepatocytes with aminoisobutyric acid or under hypo-osmotic conditions, which increased cell volume and mimicked the amino acid-induced stimulation of glycogen synthesis, had little effect on lipogenesis. In hepatocytes incubated without glucose, ketogenesis was inhibited, in decreasing order of efficiency, by alanine, asparagine, glutamine and proline. Under these conditions, glutamine increased, alanine decreased and asparagine did not affect the concentration of malonyl-CoA. This indicates that the latter cannot be responsible for the inhibition of ketogenesis by alanine and asparagine.

Amino Acids↗

Vanadate inhibits liver fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase.

Vanadate was found to be a reversible non-competitive inhibitor of chicken liver fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase. The inhibition was best observed in the presence of glycerol 2- or 3-phosphate and half-maximal effect was obtained with about 0.15 mM vanadate. Vanadate decreased the extent of phosphorylation of the enzyme (E-P) by fructose 2,6-[2-32P]bisphosphate. This did not result from an increased rate of E-P breakdown, as is the case with phosphoglycerate mutase, an enzyme which shares structural and functional similarity to fructose-2,6-bisphosphate. The data were consistent with the formation of a dead-end transition state analogue of phosphate in the active site. Inhibition of fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase by vanadate offers a likely explanation for the increase in fructose 2,6-bisphosphate concentration brought about by vanadate in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Animals↗

Insulin-induced phospho-oligosaccharide stimulates amino acid transport in isolated rat hepatocytes.

The ability of the insulin-induced phospho-oligosaccharide to stimulate amino acid transport was studied in isolated rat hepatocytes. At low alpha-aminoisobutyric acid concentrations (0.1 mM), both 100 nM-insulin and 10 microM-phospho-oligosaccharide doubled amino acid uptake after 2 h of incubation. This stimulation was prevented by 0.1 mM-cycloheximide or 5 micrograms of actinomycin D/ml, indicating that the phospho-oligosaccharide, like insulin, was acting via the synthesis of a high-affinity transport component. The effects of the phospho-oligosaccharide and of insulin were blocked by Ins2P (2.5 mM), but not by myo-inositol, inositol hexaphosphoric acid or several monosaccharides such as mannose, glucosamine and galactose. Both the temporal effect on amino acid entry and the extent of stimulation of this process by the phospho-oligosaccharide indicate that this molecule mimics, and may mediate, some of the long-term actions of insulin. However, the effects of phospho-oligosaccharide and insulin were not exactly the same, since the effect of insulin, but not of the phospho-oligosaccharide, was additive with that of glucagon.

Amino Acids↗

Swelling of rat hepatocytes stimulates glycogen synthesis.

In hepatocytes from fasted rats, several amino acids are known to stimulate glycogen synthesis via activation of glycogen synthase. The hypothesis that an increase in cell volume resulting from amino acid uptake may be involved in the stimulation of glycogen synthesis is supported by the following observations. 1) The extent of stimulation of glycogen synthesis by both metabolizable and nonmetabolizable amino acids was directly proportional to their ability to increase cell volume, except for proline, which stimulated glycogen synthesis more than could be accounted for by the increase in cell volume. 2) Both cell swelling and stimulation of glycogen synthesis by amino acids were prevented when hepatocytes were incubated in hyperosmotic media containing sucrose or raffinose. 3) Increasing the cell volume by incubating hepatocytes in Na(+)-depleted media in the absence of amino acids also stimulated glycogen synthesis. 4) Stimulation of glycogen synthesis by Na+ depletion was prevented by restoring the normal osmolarity with sucrose, but not with choline chloride which, by itself, stimulated glycogen synthesis and increased the cell volume. It is concluded that stimulation of glycogen synthesis by amino acids is due, at least in part, to an increase in hepatocyte volume resulting from amino acid uptake, and that hepatocyte swelling per se stimulates glycogen synthesis.

Alanine↗

Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of a rat hepatoma cell cDNA coding for 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase.

In liver, the 470-residue bifunctional enzyme 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (PFK-2/FBPase-2) catalyses the synthesis and degradation of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, a potent stimulator of glycolysis. In rat hepatoma (HTC) cells, this enzyme has kinetic, antigenic, and regulatory properties, such as insensitivity to cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and lack of associated FBPase-2 activity, that differ from those in liver. To compare the sequence of the HTC enzyme with that of the liver enzyme, we have cloned the corresponding fully-coding cDNA from HTC cells. This cDNA predicts a protein of 448 residues in which the first 32 residues of liver PFK-2/FBPase-2 including the cyclic AMP target sequence have been replaced by a unique N-terminal decapeptide. The rest of the protein is identical with the liver enzyme. An N-terminally truncated recombinant peptide of 380 residues containing the PFK-2 and FBPase-2 domains was expressed in Escherichia coli as a beta-galactosidase fusion protein. It was recognized by anti-PFK-2 antibodies but its enzymic activities were barely detectable. In contrast, a cDNA fully-coding for the HTC enzyme could be expressed in E. coli as a beta-galactosidase-free peptide that exhibited both PFK-2 and FBPase-2 activities. This peptide had those PFK-2 kinetic properties of the HTC enzyme that differ from the liver enzyme. These data, together with immunoblot experiments, suggest that the lack of associated FBPase-2 activity in HTC cells results from a post-translational modification of the enzyme rather than from the difference in amino acid sequence. As well as this peculiar type of PFK-2/FBPase-2 mRNA, HTC cells also contained low concentrations of the liver-type mRNA. Unlike in liver, neither mRNA was induced by dexamethasone in these cells.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Thyroid hormone stimulates expression of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase in rat liver.

The activity of liver 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (PFK-2), the enzyme that catalyses the synthesis of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, was markedly decreased in hypothyroid rats and partially restored after 3 days of treatment with triiodothyronine. The changes in PFK-2 activity were accompanied by parallel changes in enzyme content measured by immunotitration and in PFK-2 mRNA determined by dot blot and Northern blot hybridization with cDNA probes. It is concluded that thyroid hormone stimulates liver PFK-2 gene expression by a pre-translational mechanism.

Animals↗

Inactivation of liver 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase by o-phthalaldehyde.

The two activities of chicken liver 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase were inactivated by o-phthalaldehyde. Absorbance and fluorescence spectra of the modified enzyme were consistent with the formation of an isoindole derivative (1 mol/mol of enzyme subunit). The inactivation of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase by o-phthalaldehyde was faster than the inactivation of fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase, which was concomitant with the increase in fluorescence. The substrates of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase did not protect the kinase against inactivation, whereas fructose-2,6-bisphosphate fully protected against o-phthalaldehyde-induced inactivation of the bisphosphatase. Addition of dithiothreitol prevented both the increase in fluorescence and the inactivation of fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase, but not that of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase. It is proposed that o-phthalaldehyde forms two different inhibitory adducts: a non-fluorescent adduct in the kinase domain and a fluorescent isoindole derivative in the bisphosphatase domain. A lysine and a cysteine residue could be involved in fructose-2,6-bisphosphate binding in the bisphosphatase domain of the protein.

Aldehydes↗

Characterization of distinct mRNAs coding for putative isozymes of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase.

Three distinct clones encoding full-length 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (PFK-2)/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase-2) were characterized from a rat liver cDNA library. Clone 22c was 1859 bp long and coded for the 470 amino acids of the bifunctional subunit of the liver homodimer. This polypeptide is phosphorylated on serine 32 by cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase. Clone 4c (2681 bp) had a coding region identical to that of clone 22c but it included a putative intron of 959 bp. In clone 5c (1750 bp), the sequence upstream from amino acid 33 differed from that in clone 22c and coded for a unique N-terminal portion of 10 amino acids. Poly(A)-rich RNA from rat tissues was hybridized with cDNA probes corresponding to the unique N-terminal portions of clones 22c and 5c. Dot and Northern blots showed signals indicative of three distinct PFK-2/FBPase-2 mRNAs. There were a 6.8-kb mRNA typical of cardiac tissue, a 2.1-kb mRNA typical of liver, corresponding to clone 22c, and a 1.9-kb mRNA typical of skeletal muscle, corresponding to clone 5c. Primer extension analysis showed that clones 22c and 5c were nearly complete since their respective 5'-untranslated sequences were at most 96/97 bp and 44 bp shorter than the corresponding mRNAs. These data provide a molecular basis for the existence of PFK-2/FBPase-2 isozymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

5' flanking sequence and structure of a gene encoding rat 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase.

The synthesis and degradation of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, a ubiquitous stimulator of glycolysis, are catalyzed by 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (EC 2.7.1.105) and fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (EC 3.1.3.46), respectively. In liver, these two activities belong to separate domains of the same 470-residue polypeptide. Various mRNAs have been described for this bifunctional enzyme, which is controlled by hormonal and metabolic signals. To understand the origin and regulation of these mRNAs, we have characterized rat genomic clones encoding the liver isozyme, which is regulated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase, and the muscle isozyme, which is not. We describe here a 55-kilobase gene that encodes these isozymes by alternative splicing from two promoters. Each of the putative promoters was sequenced over about 3 kilobases and found to include nucleotide motifs for binding regulatory factors. The two isozymes share the same 13 exons and differ only by the first exon that, in the liver but not in the muscle isozyme, contains the serine phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The gene was assigned to the X chromosome. An analysis of the exon limits of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase in relation to its functional domains and to its similarity with other proteins plus its G + C content at the third codon position suggests that this gene originates from several fusion events.

Animals↗