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Inhibition of pentose cycle of A549 cells by 6-aminonicotinamide: consequences for aerobic and hypoxic radiation response and for radiosensitizer action.

Metabolism of glucose via the pentose cycle is a principal source of NADPH, an important cellular reducing species. Both aerobic and hypoxic irradiation stimulate the pentose cycle activity of A549 human lung carcinoma cells, which indicates that NADPH is utilized during irradiation, either as a direct hydrogen donor or as a cofactor for enzymatic repair of radiation damage. To evaluate the role of the pentose cycle in radiation response, we treated A549 cells with 6-aminonicotinamide (6-AN), which blocks the oxidative limb of this pathway in some cell lines. We found 6-AN to be a very effective inhibitor of pentose cycle activity, as indicated both by accumulation of 6-phosphogluconate in A549 cells and by the inability of nitrofurazone or peroxide to stimulate release of 14CO2 from 14C-1-labeled glucose after 6-AN treatment. Effects of 6-AN were time and concentration dependent; it caused partial inhibition of glycolysis but had no effect on respiratory rate or on intracellular glutathione levels. Effects of 6-AN on radiation response were examined under two conditions: 1) after treatment with 0.3 mM drug for 5 hours, which inhibited pentose cycle activity by 50%, and 2) after treatment for 15 hours, which completely inhibited pentose cycle activity. Neither treatment affected aerobic radiation response, but both increased hypoxic sensitivity to a similar extent, with the oxygen enhancement ratio reduced from 3.0 to 2.0 at a 0.05 surviving fraction. Treatment of A549 cells with 6-AN caused an increase in hypoxic cell radiosensitization by misonidazole, but effects of the combined agents were not more than additive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

6-Aminonicotinamide↗

Diminished pentose cycle flux in perfused livers of ethanol-fed rats.

Rates of NADPH generation by the pentose phosphate pathway were evaluated in perfused livers from ethanol-fed or control rats by measuring the production of 14CO2 from 1-14C-glucose. Under basal perfusion conditions, livers from ethanol-fed rats released lactate and pyruvate into the perfusate at rates that were only 19% of the control values. Under these conditions, calculated rates of NADPH generation by the pentose cycle in livers of the ethanol-fed rats were only 50% of rates obtained with livers of control rats. 7-Ethoxycoumarin (7-EC), a substrate for mixed function oxidation, was infused to increase rates of hepatic NADPH utilization. In livers from control rats, 7-EC was oxidized at a rate of 2.6 mumol/g/hr, but rates of NADPH generation by the pentose cycle were increased by 8.8 mumol/g/hr. In livers from ethanol-fed rats, 7-EC was metabolized at rates of 7.2 mumol/g/hr, but the generation of NADPH by the pentose cycle was increased by only 3.9 mumol/g/hr. The infusion of 7-EC was associated with increases in rates of O2 uptake that exceeded rates of mixed function oxidation in both groups of animals. Ethanol feeding decreased the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase by 40% and decreased the concentrations of glycogen by 66%. Thus, the decrease in pentose cycle flux in perfused livers may be due to diminished activity of the rate-controlling enzyme and/or diminished substrate supply from glycogen. However, cytosolic NADP+/NADPH ratios were identical in livers of both groups. Because NADPH was not depleted during the mixed function oxidation of 7-EC in livers from ethanol-fed rats, it is concluded that other hepatic sources of NADPH compensate for the diminished generation by the pentose cycle.

Animals↗

[Dependence of the rate of the pentose cycle reactions on the degree of glutathione reduction in erythrocytes].

The stationary dependence of the rate of pentose cycle in erythrocytes measured by CO2 production on the degree of glutathione reduction typical for the pentose cycle was established. The steady-state rate of oxidation from the physiological to maximal values was generated by the addition of tretbutylhydroperoxide, a substrate of the glutathione peroxidase reaction, to erythrocyte suspension at a constant rate. The steady-state rate of CO2 production was correlated with the rates of oxidant addition throughout the experiment. The parameters of the pentose cycle reactions under conditions when the maximal rate of the pentose cycle and glutathione pool (GSH+2 GSSG) are taken for 100%, coincided for all donors tested. The increase in the rate of pentose cycle from 0 to 60% of the maximal one had practically no effect on the concentration of GSH, which was as high as 90% of the overall glutathione pool, thus indicating a high stabilization degree of GSH (stabilization coefficient was about 15). A further increase of the rate up to maximal values resulted in a rapid fall of the GSH level down to 0. The data obtained support the previously described mathematical model for regulation of glutathione metabolism. The GSSG liberation from the erythrocytes was shown to be directly proportional to the stationary intracellular concentration of GSSG; the transport rate constant varied in different donors from 0.15 up to 0.6(-1). The increase of oxidation rates up to maximal values, when GSSG concentration was approximated to the glutathione pool leads to a reversible decrease of GSSG concentration, which destroys the steady-state equilibrium of the pentose cycle.

Carbon Dioxide↗

Relationship of the oxidative pentose shunt pathway to lipid synthesis in Drosophila melanogaster.

The tissue activities of the oxidative pentose shunt enzymes, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.1.1.49) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.1.1.44), in the larvae of Drosophila melanogaster are not dependent on the amount of flux through the oxidative pentose shunt pathway. An oxidative pentose shunt deficiency effects about a 40% reduction in the NADPH concentration in early third instar larvae, resulting in a six-fold difference in the NADPH/NADP+ ratio between wild-type and pentose-shunt-deficient larvae. The capacity of pentose-shunt-deficient larvae to synthesize triglyceride in response to a high concentration of dietary sucrose is only 73% of the wild-type level. Environmental temperature influences on the fatty acid composition of larvae are not altered by an oxidative pentose shunt deficiency.

Animals↗

Interrelationship and control of glucose metabolism and lipogenesis in isolated fat-cells. Effect of the amount of glucose uptake on the rates of the pentose phosphate cycle and of fatty acid synthesis.

In order to study the quantitative relationship between fatty acid synthesis and pentose phosphate-cycle activity under different hormonal and dietary conditions affecting the extent of glucose uptake, cells isolated from rat epididymal adipose tissue were incubated in bicarbonate buffer containing [U-(14)C]-, [1-(14)C]- or [6-(14)C]-glucose. From the amount of glucose taken up, the production of lactate and pyruvate, and the incorporation of (14)C from differently labelled [(14)C]glucose into CO(2), fatty acids and glyceride glycerol, the rates of glucose metabolism via different pathways and the extent of lipogenesis under various experimental conditions were determined. The contribution of the pentose phosphate-cycle to glucose metabolism under normal conditions was calculated to be 8%. Starvation and re-feeding, and the presence of insulin, caused an enhancement of glucose uptake, pentose phosphate-cycle activity and fatty acid synthesis. Plots of both pentose phosphate-cycle activity and fatty acid synthesis versus glucose uptake revealed that the extent of glucose uptake, over a wide range, determines the rates of fatty acid synthesis and glucose metabolism via the pentose phosphate cycle. A balance of formation and production of nicotinamide nucleotides in the cytoplasm was established. The total amount of cytoplasmic NADH and NADPH formed was only in slight excess over the hydrogen equivalents required for the synthesis of fatty acids, glyceride glycerol and lactate. Except in cells from starved animals, the pentose phosphate cycle was found to provide only about 60% of the NADPH required for fatty acid synthesis. The results are discussed with respect to an overall control of the different metabolic and biosynthetic reactions in the fat-cells by the amount of glucose transported into the cell.

Adipose Tissue↗

Quantitative measurement of the L-type pentose phosphate cycle with [2-14C]glucose and [5-14C]glucose in isolated hepatocytes.

1. Investigations of the mechanism of the non-oxidative segment of the pentose phosphate cycle in isolatd hepatocytes by prediction-labelling studies following the metabolism of [2-14C]-, [5-14C]- and [4,5,6-14C]glucose are reported. The 14C distribution patterns in glucose 6-phosphate show that the reactions of the L-type pentose pathway in hepatocytes. 2. Estimates of the quantitative contribution of the L-type pentose cycle are the exclusive form of the pentose cycle to glucose metabolism have been made. The contribution of the L-type pentose cycle to the metabolism of glucose lies between 22 and 30% in isolated hepatocytes. 3. The distribution of 14C in the carbon atoms of glucose 6-phosphate following the metabolism of [4,5,6-14C]- and [2-14C]glucose indicate that gluconeogenesis from triose phosphate and non-oxidative formation of pentose 5-phosphate do not contribute significantly to randomization of 14C in isolated hepatocytes. The transaldolase exchange reaction between fructose 6-phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate is very active in these cells.

Animals↗

Reductive pentose phosphate cycle and oxidative carbohydrate metabolic activities in pea chloroplast stroma extracts.

Oxidative and reductive carbohydrate metabolism was studied in reaction mixtures based on chlorophyll-free stromal extracts from chloroplasts of Pisum sativum. A new assay system for the reductive pentose phosphate cycle was characterized.When provided with ATP, an enzymic ATP-regenerating system and reduced pyridine nucleotide, substantial rates of CO(2) fixation and pyridine nucleotide oxidation were observed following the addition of millimolar concentrations of reductive pentose phosphate cycle intermediates. The reduced pyridine nucleotide requirement could be met either by NADPH, or by NADH plus the added enzymes NAD(+)-glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate kinase. When the assay system was primed with small amounts of reductive pentose phosphate cycle intermediates, lower rates of pyridine nucleotide oxidation were observed, but turnover of the complete cycle was demonstrated. Autocatalytic effects were not evident. The optimum pH and Mg concentrations for cycle turnover were similar to those believed to exist in the stroma of intact chloroplasts in the light.Oxidative carbohydrate metabolism was studied by supplying oxidized pyridine nucleotide and measuring its rate of reduction in the presence of sugar phosphates. Glycolytic activity, estimated as the rate of fructose-6-phosphate entry to the phosphofructokinase reaction was 2.7 micromoles per milligram chlorophyll per hour when fructose-6-phosphate was provided as substrate. Evidence based on glucose-6-phosphate and ribose-5-phosphate-dependent NADP(+) reduction showed that the oxidative pentose phosphate cycle was also active. Apparent oxidative pentose phosphate cycle turnover in the presence of ribose-5-phosphate, estimated as the rate of glucose-6-phosphate entry to the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase reaction, was 1.7 micromoles per milligram chlorophyll per hour.It was concluded that under the defined conditions, reductive pentose phosphate cycle activity could be measured without interference from oxidative carbohydrate metabolism in this experimental system.

Journal Article↗

The role of the pentose phosphate shunt in thyrotropin-induced thyroid hormone secretion: in vivo and vitro studies with 6-aminonicotinamide in mouse thyroids.

The possible role of the pentose phosphate shunt in thyroid hormone secretion was investigated in vivo and in vitro with mouse thyroid glands. Thyroidal endocytosis in response to TSH, a step of thyroid hormone secretion, was evaluated for its dependency upon the pentose phosphate shunt by using 6-aminonicotinamide (6-AN), an antimetabolite in the synthesis of pyridine nucleotides. Formation of 14CO2 from glucose labeled either in the C-1 or C-6 position was studied to estimate the pentose phosphate shunt activity. A dose of 6-AN markedly reduced oxidation of [1-14C]glucose but did not affect that of [6-14C]glucose induced by TSH. Concomitantly there was a marked decrease in thyroidal endocytotic response to TSH. These inhibitions by 6-AN were completely abolished by the pretreatment with nicotinamide. Methylene blue, which oxidizes NADPH and thus stimulates activity of the pentose shunt, significantly depressed thyroidal endocytosis in response to TSH in vitro. These inhibitions of colloid droplet formation by 6-AN or methylene blue were not manifested against dibutyryl cyclic AMP stimulation. Furthermore, a dose of 6-AN, which seems to inhibit only the pentose phosphate shunt, markedly depressed TSH-induced formation of cyclic amp. These findings suggest that the pentose phosphate shunt might play an important role in triggering TSH stimulation of thyroid hormone secretion by supplying NADPH, and further, that NADPH dependency in thyroid hormone secretion is at a site prior to the generation of cyclic AMP.

6-Aminonicotinamide↗

[Peculiarities of reaction activity of the pentose phosphate pathway in different tissues].

The paper deals with the most important pentose phosphate pathway reactions of carbohydrate metabolism in tissues of the liver, spleen, bone marrow and in blood erythrocytes catalyzed by transketolase. Possibilities are also studied for pentose phosphate production in the mentioned tissues in the nonoxidized reaction of the pentose phosphate pathway catalyzed by transketolase. It is established that due to this reaction the possibility of pentose phosphates synthesis in tissues of the liver, spleen, bone marrow and erythrocytes is very small as compared with that in the oxidative reactions of the pentose phosphate pathway. The reaction rate is higher in the reverse direction when utilizing erytrhroso-4-phosphate and riboso-5-phosphate with glycolysis intermediate products formed. It is also shown that erythroso-4-phosphate inhibits greatly the glucose phosphate isomerase activity. Coming from the data obtained the authors suggest that acceleration of the transketolase reaction towards the utilization of erythroso-4-phosphate as well as of synthesis of fructoso-6-phosphate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate promotes the transfer of carbohydrate metabolism from the pentose phosphate pathway to glycolysis.

Animals↗

Regulation of the pentose phosphate pathway in human astrocytes and gliomas.

Several aspects of the regulation of the pentose phosphate pathway were examined in cultured normal human cortical astrocytes and gliomas of pathological grades I-IV. The generation of radiolabeled CO2 from [1-14C]glucose by the oxidative arm of the pentose phosphate pathway is a saturable process and has a maximum flux rate of 8-9 nmol/hr/mg cell protein. The flux can be blocked by the glycolytic inhibitor iodoacetamide but is unaffected by agents which inhibit oxidative phosphorylation. The magnitude of the pentose phosphate flux is directly related to the glioma grade. Grade IV gliomas (glioblastoma) show a pentose phosphate flux rate of approximately 4% of the total glucose flux. The flux rate can be increased by pharmacological agents which decrease the NADPH/NADP+ ratio. Both the activity and the regulation of glioma glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) are altered in high-grade gliomas. While the affinity constants for cofactors in whole homogenates were not significantly different in glioma or normal astrocyte homogenates, normal astrocytes have a lower Km for glucose-6-phosphate and a G6PDH activity which is 10-fold greater than that of gliomas. NADPH is a powerful regulator of G6PDH activity in the normal astrocytes and in gliomas. At a NADPH/NADP+ ratio of 7:1 the normal astrocyte G6PDH is entirely inhibited, while the glioma enzyme is only 70% inhibited even at a ratio of 20:1. Increased metabolic flux through the oxidative arm of the pentose phosphate pathway is apparently due to an altered form of G6PDH.

Astrocytes↗

Metabolism via the pentose phosphate pathway in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells: effects of nerve growth factor and 6-aminonicotinamide.

Exposure of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells to 0.1 mM 6-aminonicotinamide (6AN) for 24 hours resulted in a 500-fold increase in 6-phosphogluconate indicating active metabolism of glucose via the oxidative enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway. Amounts of 6-phosphogluconate that accumulated in 6AN-treated cells at 24 hours were significantly increased by treatment of the cells with nerve growth factor (NGF) (100 ng 7S/ml) suggesting that metabolism of glucose via the pentose pathway at this time was enhanced by NGF. This stimulation of metabolism via the pentose pathway is probably a late response to NGF because initial rates of 6-phosphogluconate accumulation in 6AN-treated cells were the same in the presence and absence of NGF. Moreover, amounts of 14CO2 generated from 1-[14CO2]glucose during the initial six hour incubation period were the same in control and NGF-treated cells. Specific activities of hexose phosphates labeled from 1-[14CO2]glucose were also the same in control and NGF-treated cells. The observation that 6AN inhibited metabolism via the pentose phosphate pathway but failed to inhibit NGF-stimulated neurite outgrowth suggests that NADPH required for lipid biosynthesis accompanying NGF-stimulated neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells can be derived from sources other than, or in addition to, the oxidative enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway.

6-Aminonicotinamide↗

Glucose metabolism in rat mast cells. Stimulation of the pentose phosphate pathway by compound 48/80.

The glycogen content of rat peritoneal mast cells (mean: 3 nmoles/10(6) cells) was increased 15% by incubation with glucose (1 mM) and reduced 35% when incubated without glucose at 37 degrees C for 15 min. The storage capacity for glycogen is thus low. Lactate production at 37 degrees C in a substrate-free medium was low (2.5-6.3 nmoles/10(6) cells in 40 min), but was stimulated 5-fold in the aerobic medium and 10-15 fold in the anaerobic medium by glucose. Both aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis in presence of glucose can thus provide energy for histamine secretion. The initial enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, have been demonstrated in mast cells. The enzyme activity in mast cells was, however, low compared to the high activity in the other peritoneal cells. The extent of the pentose cycle activity was determined from the conversion of 14C1- and 14C6-glucose to 14CO2, expressing the specific 14CO2 yields as fractions of the total glucose utilization. The normal pentose cycle activity with 1 mM glucose was 0.4% of the glucose metabolism. This was remarkably simulated by an electron acceptor, phenazine methosulfate. The pentose cycle was enhanced to 0.71% (80% stimulation) after exposure of the mast cells to compound 48/80, causing 68% histamine release. The stimulation of the pentose cycle by compound 48/80 seems to be due to the enhancement of biosynthetic processes during the regenerative phase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

The pentose phosphate cycle is regulated by NADPH/NADP ratio in rat liver.

The changes in the activity of the pentose phosphate cycle produced by the activation or inhibition of different NADPH-consuming pathways have been studied. The inhibition of fatty acid synthesis by kynurenate produced to the same extent, inhibition of the pentose phosphate cycle activity and an increase (about twofold) in the NADPH/NADP ratio. The addition of ter-butyl-hydroperoxide or paraquat, which is metabolized via NADPH-consuming pathways, produced the activation of the pentose phosphate cycle and a decrease in the NADPH/NADP ratio (about threefold). The plot of the NADPH/NADP ratio versus the pentose phosphate cycle activity gave a straight line with a regression index of 0.999. The regulation of the pentose phosphate cycle mainly by the intracellular NADPH/NADP ratio is discussed.

Animals↗

Short-term control of the pentose phosphate cycle by insulin could be modulated by the NADPH/NADP ratio in rat adipocytes and hepatocytes.

The short-term activation of the pentose phosphate cycle by insulin in rat adipocytes and hepatocytes has been studied. This NADPH-producing pathway is regulated by the activation or inhibition of different NADPH-consuming pathways. The stimulation of the fatty acid synthesis by insulin produced an increase in the flux through the pentose phosphate cycle. Kynurenate produced a decrease in the fatty acid synthesis and, consequently a diminution in the flux through the pentose phosphate cycle. Incubation of adipocytes and hepatocytes in presence of kynurenate (10 mM and 3 mM respectively) and insulin (5 nM), prevents both insulin activation on fatty acid synthesis and pentose phosphate cycle. These results suggest that insulin activates the pentose phosphate cycle through the activation of fatty acid synthesis.

Adipose Tissue↗

The enzymes of the classical pentose phosphate pathway display differential activities in procyclic and bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei.

The specific activities of each of the enzymes of the classical pentose phosphate pathway have been determined in both cultured procyclic and bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei. Both forms contained glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49), 6-phosphogluconolactonase (EC 3.1.1.31), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.44), ribose-5-phosphate isomerase (EC 5.3.1.6) and transaldolase (EC 2.2.1.2). However, ribulose-5-phosphate 3'-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.1) and transketolase (EC 2.2.1.1) activities were detectable only in procyclic forms. These results clearly demonstrate that both forms of T. brucei can metabolize glucose via the oxidative segment of the classical pentose phosphate pathway in order to produce D-ribose-5-phosphate for the synthesis of nucleic acids and reduced NADP for other synthetic reactions. However, only procyclic forms are capable of using the non-oxidative segment of the classical pentose phosphate pathway to cycle carbon between pentose and hexose phosphates in order to produce D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate as a net product of the pathway. Both forms lack the key gluconeogenic enzyme, fructose-bisphosphatase (EC 3.1.3.11). Consequently, neither form should be able to engage in gluconeogenesis nor should procyclic forms be able to return any of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate produced in the pentose phosphate pathway to glucose 6-phosphate. This last specific metabolic arrangement and the restriction of all but the terminal steps of glycolysis to the glycosome may be the observations required to explain the presence of distinct cytosolic and glycosomal isoenzymes of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate kinase. These same observations also may provide the basis for explaining the presence of cytosolic hexokinase and phosphoglucose isomerase without the presence of any cytosolic phosphofructokinase activity. The key enzymes of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway, 6-phosphogluconate dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.12) and 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate aldolase (EC 4.1.2.14) were not detected in either procyclic or bloodstream forms of T. brucei.

Aldose-Ketose Isomerases↗

Insulin stimulates glycolysis and pentose cycle activity in bovine microvascular endothelial cells.

Glucose metabolism via the pentose cycle, glycolysis and the Krebs cycle was quantified in bovine microvascular endothelial cells. The major measured end-product of glucose was L-lactate, with relatively small amounts of glucose carbons converted to CO2 and pyruvate. The pentose cycle accounted for less than 4% of the glucose utilized. About 60-70% of the metabolized glucose carbons could not be accounted for by lactate, pyruvate and CO2. Insulin stimulated glycolysis and pentose cycle activity, but had no effect on glucose oxidation via the Krebs cycle. As the pentose cycle is a major source of NADPH which is required for the synthesis of nitric oxide (the endothelium relaxing factor), insulin may play a role in regulating NO generation in endothelial cells by modulating the pentose cycle activity.

Animals↗

Contribution of the pentose phosphate pathway to glucose utilization by preimplantation sheep embryos.

The activity of the pentose phosphate pathway of glucose metabolism in early sheep embryos and in the structures of the advanced conceptus from Day 13 to Day 19 of pregnancy was measured quantitatively during a 2.5-h incubation with glucose as sole energy source. For embryos during cleavage, activity of this pathway accounted for 6-9% of total glucose utilized. The proportion of glucose metabolized through the pentose pathway fell progressively with development and by Day 19 represented 1-2% of glucose turnover. However, total turnover of glucose increased eight fold between the 2-cell and blastocyst stage and the amount of glucose processed through the pentose pathway increased over this time despite the fall in the proportion utilized in this way. In contrast, glucose turnover by the advanced embryo and its extra embryonic membranes progressively decreased as the structures developed. As a result, estimates of the amount of glucose utilized through the pathway per microgram dried weight per hour declined to low values at Day 19 following the peak in activity at about the time of blastulation. Trophoblast and yolk sac processed less glucose through the pentose pathway per microgram dried weight than embryonic tissue but the allantois was similar to the embryo. Overall, the pentose pathway accounted for a relatively constant proportion of the CO2 produced from glucose under these experimental conditions with values generally between 15 and 20% of total CO2 produced. When activities in the components of the advanced conceptus were expressed as the total amount of glucose processed through the pathway per hour, turnover in the embryo, allantois and yolk sac increased progressively with time. By contrast, there was a substantial trough in the activity of the trophoblast on Day 17 of pregnancy.

Allantois↗

Loss of [13C]glycerol carbon via the pentose cycle. Implications for gluconeogenesis measurement by mass isotoper distribution analysis.

Whereas many reports substantiated the suitability of using [2-(13)C]glycerol and Mass Isotoper Distribution Analysis for gluconeogenesis, the use of [(13)C]glycerol had been shown to give lower estimates of gluconeogenesis (GNG). The reason for the underestimation has been attributed to asymmetric isotope incorporation during gluconeogenesis as well as zonation of gluconeogenic enzymes and a [(13)C]glycerol gradient across the liver. Since the cycling of glycerol carbons through the pentose cycle pathways can introduce asymmetry in glucose labeling pattern and tracer dilution, we present here a study of the role of the pentose cycle in gluconeogenesis in Fao cells. The metabolic regulation of glucose release and gluconeogenesis by insulin was also studied. Serum-starved cells were incubated for 24 h in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's media containing 1.5 mm [U-(13)C]glycerol. Mass isotopomers of whole glucose from medium or glycogen and those of the C-1-C-4 fragment were highly asymmetrical, typical of that resulting from the cycling of glucose carbon through the pentose cycle. Substantial exchange of tracer between hexose and pentose intermediates was observed. Our results offer an alternative mechanism for the asymmetrical labeling of glucose carbon from triose phosphate. The scrambling of (13)C in hexose phosphate via the pentose phosphate cycle prior to glucose release into the medium is indistinguishable from dilution of labeled glucose by glycogen using MIDA and probably accounts for the underestimation of GNG using (13)C tracer methods.

Animals↗