[Effect of Magnesium Diasporal on erythrocyte pyruvate kinase activity in healthy persons and in patients with pyruvate kinase deficiency].
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The characterization of the L-type PK were made of PK extracted from the liver of a patient with congenital hemolytic anemia associated with an erythrocyte PK variant, PK Nagasaki. The L-type PK of PK Nagasaki showed the following parameters: slow migration on electrophoresis, high Km for PEP without F-1,6-P2, less activation by F-1,6-P2, normal Km for ADP, high utilization of UDP, acidic pH optimum, and instability to urea and heat. These tests served to differentiate this L-type PK variant from the other variants previously reported. At the same time, both the Km for PEP with F-1,6-P2 saturation and the electrophoretic mobility of L-type PK were found to be different from those of the erythrocyte PK and PK Nagasaki. Though the liver cell, with regard to L-type PK, has only the less functional and less stable mutant L-type PK there is no evidence of liver dysfunction or damage, although there is chronic hemolytic anemia.
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1. The activity of pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase was assayed by the incorporation of [(32)P]phosphate from [gamma-(32)P]ATP into the dehydrogenase complex. There was a very close correlation between this incorporation and the loss of pyruvate dehydrogenase activity with all preparations studied. 2. Nucleoside triphosphates other than ATP (at 100mum) and cyclic 3':5'-nucleotides (at 10mum) had no significant effect on kinase activity. 3. The K(m) for thiamin pyrophosphate in the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction was 0.76mum. Sodium pyrophosphate, adenylyl imidodiphosphate, ADP and GTP were competitive inhibitors against thiamin pyrophosphate in the dehydrogenase reaction. 4. The K(m) for ATP of the intrinsic kinase assayed in three preparations of pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase was in the range 13.9-25.4mum. Inhibition by ADP and adenylyl imidodiphosphate was predominantly competitive, but there was nevertheless a definite non-competitive element. Thiamin pyrophosphate and sodium pyrophosphate were uncompetitive inhibitors against ATP. It is suggested that ADP and adenylyl imidodiphosphate inhibit the kinase mainly by binding to the ATP site and that the adenosine moiety may be involved in this binding. It is suggested that thiamin pyrophosphate, sodium pyrophosphate, adenylyl imidodiphosphate and ADP may inhibit the kinase by binding through pyrophosphate or imidodiphosphate moieties at some site other than the ATP site. It is not known whether this is the coenzyme-binding site in the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction. 5. The K(m) for pyruvate in the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction was 35.5mum. 2-Oxobutyrate and 3-hydroxypyruvate but not glyoxylate were also substrates; all three compounds inhibited pyruvate oxidation. 6. In preparations of pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase free of thiamin pyrophosphate, pyruvate inhibited the kinase reaction at all concentrations in the range 25-500mum. The inhibition was uncompetitive. In the presence of thiamin pyrophosphate (endogenous or added at 2 or 10mum) the kinase activity was enhanced by low concentrations of pyruvate (25-100mum) and inhibited by a high concentration (500mum). Activation of the kinase reaction was not seen when sodium pyrophosphate was substituted for thiamin pyrophosphate. 7. Under the conditions of the kinase assay, pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase forms (14)CO(2) from [1-(14)C]pyruvate in the presence of thiamin pyrophosphate. Previous work suggests that the products may include acetoin. Acetoin activated the kinase reaction in the presence of thiamin pyrophosphate but not with sodium pyrophosphate. It is suggested that acetoin formation may contribute to activation of the kinase reaction by low pyruvate concentrations in the presence of thiamin pyrophosphate. 8. Pyruvate effected the conversion of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate into pyruvate dehydrogenase in rat heart mitochondria incubated with 5mm-2-oxoglutarate and 0.5mm-l-malate as respiratory substrates. It is suggested that this effect of pyruvate is due to inhibition of the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase reaction in the mitochondrion. 9. Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity was inhibited by high concentrations of Mg(2+) (15mm) and by Ca(2+) (10nm-10mum) at low Mg(2+) (0.15mm) but not at high Mg(2+) (15mm).
1. In isolated pancreatic islets, pyruvate causes a shift to the left of the sigmoidal curve relating the rate of insulin release to the ambient glucose concentration. The magnitude of this effect is related to the concentration of pyruvate (5--90 mM) and, at a 30 mM concentration, is equivalent to that evoked by 2 mM-glucose. Pyruvate also enhances insulin release in the presence of fructose, leucine and 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate. 2. In the presence of glucose 8 mM), the secretory response to pyruvate is an immediate process, displaying a biphasic pattern. 3. The insulinotropic action of pyruvate coincides with an inhibition of 45Ca efflux and a stimulation of 45Ca net uptake. The relationship between 45Ca uptake and insulin release displays its usual pattern in the presence of pyruvate. 4. Exogenous pyruvate rapidly accumulates in the islets in amounts close to those derived from the metabolism of glucose. The oxidation of [2-14C]pyruvate represents 64% of the rate of [1-14C]pyruvate decarboxylation and, at a 30 mM concentration, is comparable with that of 8 mM-[U-14C]glucose. 5. When corrected for the conversion of pyruvate into lactate, the oxidation of 30 mM-pyruvate corresponds to a net generation of about 314 pmol of reducing equivalents/120 min per islet. 6. Pyruvate does not affect the rate of glycolysis, but inhibits the oxidation of glucose. Glucose does not affect pyruvate oxidation. 7. Pyruvate (30 mM) does not affect the concentration of ATP, ADP and AMP in the islet cells. 8. Pyruvate (30 mM) increases the concentration of reduced nicotinamide nucleotides in the presence but not in the absence of glucose. A close correlation is seen between the concentration of reduced nicotinamide nucleotides and the net uptake of 45Ca. Menadione inhibits the effect of pyruvate on insulin release, without altering its rate of oxidation. 9. Pyruvate, like glucose, modestly stimulates lipogenesis. 10. Pyruvate, in contrast with glucose, markedly inhibits the oxidation of endogenous nutrients. The latter effect accounts for the apparent discrepancy between the rate of pyruvate oxidation and the magnitude of its insulinotropic action. 11. Dichloroacetate fails to affect glucose oxidation and glucose-stimulated insulin release. 12. It is concluded that the effect of pyruvate to stimulate insulin release depends on its ability to increase the concentration of reduced nicotinamide nucleotides in the islet cells.
1. The activities of pyruvate dehydrogenase in rat lymphocytes and mouse macrophages are much lower than those of the key enzymes of glycolysis and glutaminolysis. However, the rates of utilization of pyruvate (at 2 mM), from the incubation medium, are not markedly lower than the rate of utilization of glucose by incubated lymphocytes or that of glutamine by incubated macrophages. This suggests that the low rate of oxidation of pyruvate produced from either glucose or glutamine in these cells is due to the high capacity of lactate dehydrogenase, which competes with pyruvate dehydrogenase for pyruvate. 2. Incubation of either macrophages or lymphocytes with dichloroacetate had no effect on the activity of subsequently isolated pyruvate dehydrogenase; incubation of mitochondria isolated from lymphocytes with dichloroacetate had no effect on the rate of conversion of [1-14C]pyruvate into 14CO2, and the double-reciprocal plot of [1-14C]pyruvate concentration against rate of 14CO2 production was linear. In contrast, ADP or an uncoupling agent increased the rate of 14CO2 production from [1-14C]pyruvate by isolated lymphocyte mitochondria. These data suggest either that pyruvate dehydrogenase is primarily in the a form or that pyruvate dehydrogenase in these cells is not controlled by an interconversion cycle, but by end-product inhibition by NADH and/or acetyl-CoA. 3. The rate of conversion of [3-14C]pyruvate into CO2 was about 15% of that from [1-14C]pyruvate in isolated lymphocytes, but was only 1% in isolated lymphocyte mitochondria. The inhibitor of mitochondrial pyruvate transport, alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate, inhibited both [1-14C]- and [3-14C]-pyruvate conversion into 14CO2 to the same extent, and by more than 80%. 4. Incubations of rat lymphocytes with concanavalin A had no effect on the rate of conversion of [1-14C]pyruvate into 14CO2, but increased the rate of conversion of [3-14C]pyruvate into 14CO2 by about 50%. This suggests that this mitogen causes a stimulation of the activity of pyruvate carboxylase.
The pattern of oxidative metabolism of pyruvate may be assessed by comparing the steady-state 14CO2 production from four isotopes in identical samples. The assay requires measuring the ratios of steady-state 14CO2 production from two isotope pairs, [2-14C]pyruvate:[3-14C]pyruvate and [1-14C]acetate:[2-14C]acetate. These ratios are defined as the "pyruvate 14CO2 ratio" and the "acetate 14CO2 ratio," respectively. If pyruvate is metabolized exclusively via pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), the two ratios will be identical. Alternatively, if any pyruvate enters the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle via pyruvate carboxylation (PC), the pyruvate 14CO2 ratio will be less than the acetate 14CO2 ratio. If pyruvate enters the TCA cycle only through PC (with oxaloacetate and fumarate in equilibrium) the pyruvate 14CO2 ratio will approach a value of 1.0. An equation is presented for the quantitative evaluation of pyruvate oxidation by these two pathways. We have used this method to detect relative changes in the pattern of pyruvate metabolism in rat liver mitochondria produced by exposure to 1 mM octanoyl carnitine, a compound known to alter the PC:PDH activity ratio. The major advantages of the method are (i) that it provides a sensitive method for detecting pyruvate carboxylation at physiological pyruvate concentrations and (ii) that it provides a method for distinguishing between effects on pyruvate transport and effects on pyruvate oxidation.
The effects of increased cardiac work, pyruvate and insulin on the state of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activation and rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was studied in the isolated perfused rat heart. At low levels of cardiac work, 61% of PDH was present in the active form when glucose was the only substrate provided. The actual rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was only 5% of the available capacity calculated from the percent of active PDH. Under this condition, the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was restricted by the slow rate of pyruvate production from glycolysis. Increasing cardiac work accelerated glycolysis, but production of pyruvate remained rate limiting for pyruvate oxidation and only 40% of the maximal active PDH capacity was used. Addition of insulin along with glucose reduced the percent of active PDH to 16% of the total at low cardiac work. This effect of insulin was associated with increased mitochondria NADH/NAD and acetyl CoA/CoA ratios. With both glucose and insulin the calculated maximum capacity of active PDH was about the same as measured rates of pyruvate oxidation indicating that pyruvate oxidation was limited by the activation state of PDH. In this case, raising the level of cardiac work increased the active PDH to 85% and although pyruvate oxidation was accelerated, measured flux through PDH was only 73% of the maximal activity of active PDH. With pyruvate as added exogenous substrate, PDH was 82% of active at low cardiac work probably due to pyruvate inhibition of PDH kinase. In this case, the measured rate of pyruvate oxidation was 64% of the capacity of active PDH. However, increased cardiac work still caused further activation of PDH to 96% active. Thus, actual rates of pyruvate oxidation in the intact tissue were determined by (1) the supply of pyruvate in hearts receiving glucose alone, (2) by the percent of active PDH in hearts receiving both glucose and insulin at low work and (3) by end-product inhibition in hearts receiving glucose and insulin at high work or at all levels of work with pyruvate as substrate. The increase in active PDH with higher levels of cardia work was associated most closely with reduced mitochondrial NADH/NAD ratios and with decreased acetyl CoA/CoA ratios when insulin or pyruvate were present.
UNLABELLED: Pyruvate augmentation of contractile function and cytosolic free energy of ATP hydrolysis in myocardium could result from pyruvate catabolism in the mitochondria or from increased ratio of the cytosolic NAD-/NADH redox couple via the lactate dehydrogenase equilibrium. OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that cytosolic oxidation by pyruvate is sufficient to increase cardiac function and energetics. METHODS: Isolated working guinea-pig hearts received 0.2 mM octanoate +/- 2.5 mM pyruvate as fuels. alpha-Cyano-3-hydroxycinnamate (COHC, 0.6 mM) was administered to selectively inhibit mitochondrial pyruvate uptake without inhibiting pyruvate's cytosolic redox effects or octanoate oxidation. The effects of pyruvate and COHC on sarcoplasmic reticular- Ca2+ handling were examined in 45Ca-loaded hearts. RESULTS: Pyruvate increased left ventricular stroke work and power 40%, mechanical efficiency 29%, and cytosolic ATP phosphorylation potential nearly fourfold. 14CO2 formation from [1-14C]pyruvate was inhibited 65% by COHC, and octanoate oxidation, i.e. 14CO2 formation from [1-14C]octanoate, concomitantly increased threefold. COHC prevented pyruvate enhancement of left ventricular function, mechanical efficiency and cytosolic phosphorylation potential, but did not alter respective levels in pyruvate-free control hearts and augmented cytosolic oxidation by pyruvate. Pyruvate increased sarcoplasmic reticular Ca2+ turnover, i.e. Ca2+ uptake and release, as indicated by 62% decrease in caffeine-induced 45Ca release following 40 min 45Ca washout (P < 0.01). In presence of COHC, pyruvate did not lower caffeine-induced 45Ca release; thus. COHC abrogated pyruvate enhancement of Ca2+ turnover (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Pyruvate oxidation of cytosolic redox state is not sufficient to increase cardiac function, cytosolic energetics and sarcoplasmic reticular Ca2+ turnover when mitochondrial pyruvate transport is disabled; thus, mitochondrial metabolism of pyruvate is essential for its metabolic inotropism.
CO2 fixation was measured in cultured astrocytes isolated from neonatal rat brain to test the hypothesis that the activity of pyruvate carboxylase influences the rate of de novo glutamate and glutamine synthesis in astrocytes. Astrocytes were incubated with 14CO2 and the incorporation of 14C into medium or cell extract products was determined. After chromatographic separation of 14C-labelled products, the fractions of 14C cycled back to pyruvate, incorporated into citric acid cycle intermediates, and converted to the amino acids glutamate and glutamine were determined as a function of increasing pyruvate carboxylase flux. The consequences of increasing pyruvate, bicarbonate, and ammonia were investigated. Increasing extracellular pyruvate from 0 to 5 mM increased pyruvate carboxylase flux as observed by increases in the 14C incorporated into pyruvate and citric acid cycle intermediates, but incorporation into glutamate and glutamine, although relatively high at low pyruvate levels, did not increase as pyruvate carboxylase flux increased. Increasing added bicarbonate from 15 to 25 mM almost doubled CO2 fixation. When 25 mM bicarbonate plus 0.5 mM pyruvate increased pyruvate carboxylase flux to approximately the same extent as 15 mM bicarbonate plus 5 mM pyruvate, the rate of appearance of [14C] glutamate and glutamine was higher with the lower level of pyruvate. The conclusion was drawn that, in addition to stimulating pyruvate carboxylase, added pyruvate (but not added bicarbonate) increases alanine aminotransferase flux in the direction of glutamate utilization, thereby decreasing glutamate as pyruvate + glutamate --> alpha-ketoglutarate + alanine. In contrast to previous in vivo studies, the addition of ammonia (0.1 and 5 mM) had no effect on net 14CO2 fixation, but did alter the distribution of 14C-labelled products by decreasing glutamate and increasing glutamine. Rather unexpectedly, ammonia did not increase the sum of glutamate plus glutamine (mass amounts or 14C incorporation). Low rates of conversion of alpha-[14C]ketoglutarate to [14C]glutamate, even in the presence of excess added ammonia, suggested that reductive amination of alpha-ketoglutarate is inactive under conditions studied in these cultured astrocytes. We conclude that pyruvate carboxylase is required for de novo synthesis of glutamate plus glutamine, but that conversion of alpha-ketoglutarate to glutamate may frequently be the rate-limiting step in this process of glutamate synthesis.
1. Effects of alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate and alpha-cyanocinnamate on a number of enzymes involved in pyruvate metabolism have been investigated. Little or no inhibition was observed of any enzyme at concentrations that inhibit completely mitochondrial pyruvate transport. At much higher concentrations (1 mM) some inhibition of pyruvate carboxylase was apparent. 2. Alpha-Cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate (1-100 muM) specifically inhibited pyruvate oxidation by mitochondria isolated from rat heart, brain, kidney and from blowfly flight muscle; oxidation of other substrates in the presence or absence of ADP was not affected. Similar concentrations of the compound also inhibited the carboxylation of pyruvate by rat liver mitochondria and the activation by pyruvate of pyruvate dehydrogenase in fat-cell mitochondria. These findings imply that pyruvate dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase and pyruvate carboxylase are exposed to mitochondrial matrix concentrations of pyruvate rather than to cytoplasmic concentrations. 3. Studies with whole-cell preparations incubated in vitro indicate that alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate or alpha-cyanocinnamate (at concentrations below 200 muM) can be used to specifically inhibit mitochondrial pyruvate transport within cells and thus alter the metabolic emphasis of the preparation. In epididymal fat-pads, fatty acid synthesis from glucose and fructose, but not from acetate, was markedly inhibited. No changes in tissue ATP concentrations were observed. The effects on fatty acid synthesis were reversible. In kidney-cortex slices, gluconeogenesis from pyruvate and lactate but not from succinate was inhibited. In the rat heart perfused with medium containing glucose and insulin, addition of alpha-cyanocinnamate (200 muM) greatly increased the output and tissue concentrations of lactate plus pyruvate but decreased the lactate/pyruvate ratio. 4. The inhibition by cyanocinnamate derivatives of pyruvate transport across the cell membrane of human erythrocytes requires much higher concentrations of the derivatives than the inhibition of transport across the mitochondrial membrane. Alpha-Cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate appears to enter erythrocytes on the cell-membrane pyruvate carrier. Entry is not observed in the presence of albumin, which may explain the small effects when these compounds are injected into whole animals.
1. A method was devised for preparing pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase free of thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP), permitting studies of the binding of [35S]TPP to pyruvate dehydrogenase and pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate. The Kd of TPP for pyruvate dehydrogenase was in the range 6.2-8.2 muM, whereas that for pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate was approximately 15 muM; both forms of the complex contained about the same total number of binding sites (500 pmol/unit of enzyme). EDTA completely inhibited binding of TPP; sodium pyrophosphate, adenylyl imidodiphosphate and GTP, which are inhibitors (competitive with TPP) of the overall pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction, did not appreciably affect TPP binding. 2. Initial-velocity patterns of the overall pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction obtained with varying TPP, CoA and NAD+ concentrations at a fixed pyruvate concentration were consistent with a sequential three-site Ping Pong mechanism; in the presence of oxaloacetate and citrate synthase to remove acetyl-CoA (an inhibitor of the overall reaction) the values of Km for NAD+ and CoA were 53+/- 5 muM and 1.9+/-0.2 muM respectively. Initial-velocity patterns observed with varying TPP concentrations at various fixed concentrations of pyruvate were indicative of either a compulsory order of addition of substrates to form a ternary complex (pyruvate-Enz-TPP) or a random-sequence mechanism in which interconversion of ternary intermediates is rate-limiting; values of Km for pyruvate and TPP were 25+/-4 muM and 50+/-10 nM respectively. The Kia-TPP (the dissociation constant for Enz-TPP complex calculated from kinetic plots) was close to the value of Kd-TPP (determined by direct binding studies). 3. Inhibition of the overall pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction by pyrophosphate was mixed non-competitive versus pyruvate and competitive versus TPP; however, pyrophosphate did not alter the calculated value for Kia-TPP, consistent with the lack of effect of pyrophosphate on the Kd for TPP. 4. Pyruvate dehydrogenase catalysed a TPP-dependent production of 14CO2 from [1-14C]pyruvate in the absence of NAD+ and CoA at approximately 0.35% of the overall reaction rate; this was substantially inhibited by phosphorylation of the enzyme both in the presence and absence of acetaldehyde (which stimulates the rate of 14CO2 production two- or three-fold). 5. Pyruvate dehydrogenase catalysed a partial back-reaction in the presence of TPP, acetyl-CoA and NADH. The Km for TPP was 4.1+/-0.5 muM. The partial back-reaction was stimulated by acetaldehyde, inhibited by pyrophosphate and abolished by phosphorylation. 6. Formation of enzyme-bound [14C]acetylhydrolipoate from [3-14C]pyruvate but not from [1-14C]acetyl-CoA was inhibited by phosphorylation. Phosphorylation also substantially inhibited the transfer of [14C]acetyl groups from enzyme-bound [14C]acetylhydrolipoate to TPP in the presence of NADH. 7...
This study was performed to address the possible role of pyruvate in meiotic induction in mouse oocytes. Cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes from primed, immature mice were cultured in 7.5 microliters microdrops under oil for 9 or 18 h in medium containing 4 mmol hypoxanthine l-1 plus 0.23 mmol pyruvate l-1, 1 mmol pyruvate l-1, or 1 mmol pyruvate l-1 plus 5.5 mmol glucose l-1. When compared with cultures containing 0.23 mmol pyruvate l-1, 1 mmol pyruvate l-1 induced germinal vesicle breakdown, and this was preceded by an increase in pyruvate utilization. Addition of glucose prevented both the increase in pyruvate consumption and the meiotic induction. When different combinations of pyruvate and glucose were tested on oocyte maturation in microdrop cultures, a high concentration of pyruvate or glucose alone was stimulatory to maturation. Addition of the complementary energy substrate prevented the induction of germinal vesicle breakdown and reduced the amount of substrate consumption. During spontaneous maturation in vitro, oocyte-cumulus cell complexes consumed glucose for the first 3 h; however, during the second 3 h period, which followed germinal vesicle breakdown, glucose consumption decreased and net pyruvate utilization was initiated. Treatment of hypoxanthine-arrested oocytes with dichloroacetate, an activator of pyruvate dehydrogenase, stimulated pyruvate consumption but had no effect on germinal vesicle breakdown. Although FSH stimulates meiotic resumption, no changes in pyruvate consumption were observed in response to this gonadotrophin. Measurement of oxygen consumption by hypoxanthine-treated complexes revealed no effect of high concentrations of pyruvate on respiration, and FSH treatment resulted in a suppression of oxygen utilization. These data indicate that, in mouse oocyte-cumulus cell complexes, pyruvate and glucose can each modulate metabolism of the other substrate, and the can significantly influence meiotic maturation of the oocyte. In addition, augmentation of pyruvate oxidation does not appear to play a mediating role in meiotic induction triggered by energy substrate manipulation or gonadotrophin treatment.
Previous studies indicated that in pancreatic islets the amount of glucose-derived pyruvate that enters mitochondrial metabolism via carboxylation is approximately equal to that entering via decarboxylation and that both carboxylation and decarboxylation are correlated with capacitation of glucose metabolism and insulin release. The relatively high rate of carboxylation is consistent with the current study's finding that pyruvate carboxylase is as abundant in pancreatic islets as it is in liver and kidney. Since islets do not contain phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and, therefore, cannot carry out glyconeogenesis from pyruvate, the carboxylase might be present in the islet to participate in novel anaplerotic reactions. This idea was first explored by incubating mitochondria from various tissues with pyruvate. Mitochondria from tissues, such as pancreatic islets, liver, and kidney, in which pyruvate carboxylase is abundant, exported a large amount of malate and little or no citrate, isocitrate, and aspartate to the medium. The amount of malate within the mitochondria was < 1% that in the medium. When pancreatic islet mitochondria were incubated with [1-14C]pyruvate, radioactive carbon appeared in the medium primarily in malate. Very little radioactivity appeared in amino acids, and little or no radioactivity appeared in citrate and isocitrate. Carbon 1 of pyruvate can be incorporated into malate and other citric acid cycle intermediates only via carboxylation, as this carbon would be lost via decarboxylation when pyruvate enters the citric acid cycle as acetyl-CoA via the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction. The amount of malate formed equaled the 14CO2 formed and the radioactivity from C-1 of pyruvate recovered in malate slightly exceeded the formation of 14CO2 in agreement with our previous studies that reported a high rate of carboxylation of pyruvate in intact islets. When intact pancreatic islets were incubated with methyl [U-14C]succinate as a mitochondrial source of four-carbon dicarboxylic acids, radioactivity appeared in pyruvate and lactate. Taken together with previous studies, the current results suggest that during glucose-induced insulin secretion there is a shuttle operating across the mitochondrial membrane in which glucose-derived pyruvate is taken up by mitochondria and carboxylated to oxaloacetate by pyruvate carboxylase. The oxaloacetate is converted to malate which exits the mitochondrion, where, in the cytosol, it is decarboxylated to pyruvate in the reaction catalyzed by malic enzyme. This pyruvate re-enters mitochondrial pools. Such a cycle produces NADPH in the cytosol. Since it is a cycle, this shuttle can produce far more NADPH than the pentose phosphate pathway, which is known to be a very minor route of glucose metabolism in the islet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
The proportion of active (dephosphorylated) pyruvate dehydrogenase in perfused rat heart was decreased by alloxan-diabetes or by perfusion with media containing acetate, n-octanoate or palmitate. The total activity of the dehydrogenase was unchanged. 2. Pyruvate (5 or 25mM) or dichloroacetate (1mM) increased the proportion of active (dephosphorylated) pyruvate dehydrogenase in perfused rat heart, presumably by inhibiting the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase reaction. Alloxan-diabetes markedly decreased the proportion of active dehydrogenase in hearts perfused with pyruvate or dichloroacetate. 3. The total activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase in mitochondria prepared from rat heart was unchanged by diabetes. Incubation of mitochondria with 2-oxo-glutarate plus malate increased ATP and NADH concentrations and decreased the proportion of active pyruvate dehydrogenase. The decrease in active dehydrogenase was somewhat greater in mitochondria prepared from hearts of diabetic rats than in those from hearts of non-diabetic rats. Pyruvate (0.1-10 mM) or dichloroacetate (4-50 muM) increased the proportion of active dehydrogenase in isolated mitochondria presumably by inhibition of the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase reaction. They were much less effective in mitochondria from the hearts of diabetic rats than in those of non-diabetic rats. 4. The matrix water space was increased in preparations of mitochondria from hearts of diabetic rats. Dichloroacetate was concentrated in the matrix water of mitochondria of non-diabetic rats (approx. 16-fold at 10 muM); mitochondria from hearts of diabetic rats concentrated dichloroacetate less effectively. 5. The pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate phosphatase activity of rat hearts and of rat heart mitochondria (approx. 1-2 munit/unit of pyruvate dehydrogenase) was not affected by diabetes. 6. The rate of oxidation of [1-14C]pyruvate by rat heart mitochondria (6.85 nmol/min per mg of protein with 50 muM-pyruvate) was approx. 46% of the Vmax. value of extracted pyruvate dehydrogenase (active form). Palmitoyl-L-carnitine, which increased the ratio of [acetyl-CoA]/[CoA] 16-fold, inhibited oxidation of pyruvate by about 90% without changing the proportion of active pyruvate dehydrogenase.
The oxidation of an optimal concentration of palmitoyl-carnitine, buffered with bovine serum albumin, by isolated rat heart mitochondria was found to give rise to an inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase, provided that the concentration of pyruvate present in the mitochondrial incubation was less than 250 muM. The greatest degree of inactivation was found at the lowest pyruvate concentration used, 50 muM, and this concentration was adopted for further studies in which the rate of mitochondrial respiration was varied. This was done by varying the activity of added hexokinase, in the presence of ATP, MgCl2, and glucose, and thus the availability of ADP to the mitochondrion. The pyruvate concentration in the incubation was approximately stabilized by adding pyruvate on the basis of oxygen consumption, with the ratio of pyruvate consumed:O2 consumed determined by trial and error. This device allowed the maintenance of essentially steady pyruvate concentrations and ATP/ADP ratios for at least 5 min, and allowed the pyruvate dehydrogenase interconversion time to approach a steady state. Activities of pyruvate dehydrogenase after 5 or 6 min of respiration were as follows, with values given in nanomoles/min/mg of protein for incubations containing pyruvate as sole substrate, and values for incubations containing pyruvate plus palmitoylcarnitine given in parentheses: State 4, 27 (9); 55% of State 3, 54 (14); 85% of State 3, 73 (28); State 3, 90 (93). Respiratory states are defined by Chance and Williams (1955) J. Biol. Chem. 217, 409-427). Values at earlier time points are also presented so that some idea may be formed of the time course of pyruvate dehydrogenase inactivation. CoASH/acetyl-CoA, NAD+/NADH, and ATP/ADP ratios were measured at the same time points in precisely scaled up incubations. The presence of palmitoylcarnitine in State 4 was found to give essentially no change in NAD+/NADH and ATP/ADP ratios and thus the inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase in that state may be attributed to a decreased CoASH/acetyl-CoA ratio. At a respiratory rate of 85% of State 3, palmitoylcarnitine did not change the ATP/ADP ratio, but lowered both CoASH/acetyl-CoA and NAD+/NADH ratios, both of which may contribute to pyruvate dehydrogenase inactivation. In State 3 there was no pyruvate dehydrogenase inactivation, despite a lowered CoASH/acetyl-CoA ratio in the presence of palmitoylcarnitine. It is concluded that ATP/ADP ratio has a pronounced effect on the interconversion of active and inactive pyruvate dehydrogenase, in according with previous work. Moreover, at a given ATP/ADP ratio, the effects of palmitoylcarnitine oxidation on enzyme interconversion are consistent with a mechanism involving the modulation of the interconversion by NAD+/NADH and CoASH/acetyl-CoA ratios...