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Inactivation of yeast hexokinase by Cibacron Blue 3G-A: spectral, kinetic and structural investigations.

Yeast hexokinase, a homodimer (100 kDa), is an important enzyme in the glycolytic pathway. Although Cibacron Blue 3G-A (Reactive Blue 2) has been previously shown to inactivate yeast hexokinase, no comprehensive study exists concerning the nature of interaction(s) between hexokinase and the blue dye. A comparison of the computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) representations showed considerable overlap of the purine ring of ATP, a nucleotide substrate of hexokinase, with the hydrophobic anthraquinone moiety of the blue dye. The visible spectrum of the blue dye showed a characteristic absorption band centred at 628 nm. The visible difference spectrum of increasing concentration of the dye and the same concentrations of the dye plus a fixed concentration of hexokinase exhibited a maximum, a minimum and an isobestic point at 683, 585, and 655 nm respectively. The visible difference spectrum of the blue dye and the dye in 50% ethylene glycol showed a maximum and a minimum at 660 and 570 nm respectively. The visible difference spectrum of the blue dye in the presence of the dye and hexokinase modified at the active site by pyridoxal phosphate, iodoacetamide and o-phthalaldehyde was devoid of bands characteristic of the hexokinase-blue dye complex. Size-exclusion-chromatographic studies in the absence or presence of guanidinium chloride showed that the enzyme inactivated by the blue dye was co-eluted with the unmodified enzyme. The dialysis residue obtained after extensive dialysis of the gel-filtered complex, against a buffer of high ionic strength, showed an absorption maximum at 655 nm characteristic of the dye-enzyme complex. Inactivation data when analysed by 'Kitz-Wilson'-type kinetics for an irreversible inhibitor, yielded values of 0.05 min-1 and 92 microM for maximum rate of inactivation (k3) and dissociation constant (Kd) for the enzyme-dye complex respectively. Sugar and nucleotide substrates protected hexokinase against inactivation by the blue dye. About 2 mol of the blue dye bound per mol of hexokinase after complete inactivation. The inactivated enzyme could not be re-activated in the presence of 1 M NaCl. These results suggest that Cibacron Blue 3G-A inactivated hexokinase by an irreversible adduct formation at or near the active-site. Spectral and kinetic studies coupled with an analysis of the 3D representations of model compounds corresponding to the substructures of the blue dye suggest that 1-amino-4-(N-phenylamino)anthraquinone-2-sulphonic acid part of the blue dye may represent the minimum structure of Cibacron Blue 3G-A necessary to bind hexokinase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Anthraquinones↗

Active site residues of human brain hexokinase as studied by site-specific mutagenesis.

The truncated gene of hexokinase, mini-hexokinase, starting with methionine 455 and ending at the C terminus was expressed in Escherichia coli. Mini-hexokinase lost its ability to ameliorate inhibition of glucose-6-P-inhibited mini-hexokinase in the presence of phosphate (P(i)). We suggest that the P(i) site either resides in the N-terminal half of hexokinase I or requires the N-terminal portion of the enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed to obtain two mutants of mini-hexokinase: C606S and C628S. Both are thought to be associated with the active site of hexokinase I. These mutants exhibited a 3-fold increase in Km for glucose but no change in either the Km for ATP or the kcat. The circular dichroism (CD) spectra showed no differences among the wild-type or mutant enzymes. These results suggest that Cys606 and Cys628 are not involved in glucose binding directly. The putative ATP-binding site of full-length human brain hexokinase may involve Arg539 and Gly679, and these residues were mutated to Ile. For the mutant R539I, the kcat value decreased 114-fold relative to wild-type hexokinase, whereas the Km values for ATP and glucose changed only slightly. No change was observed in the Ki value for 1,5-anhydroglucitol 6-phosphate. CD spectra showed only a slight change in secondary structure. For the mutant G679I, overexpressed hexokinase is insoluble. We suggest that Arg539 is important for catalysis because it stabilizes the transition state product ADP-hexokinase. Gly679 is probably important for proper folding of the protein.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Glucose catabolism in brain. Intracellular localization of hexokinase.

A major energy source in brain is glucose, which is committed to metabolism by hexokinase (Type I isozyme), an enzyme usually considered to be bound to the outer mitochondrial membrane. In this study, the subcellular location of hexokinase in brain has been rigorously investigated. Mitochondrial fractions containing hexokinase (greater than 500 milliunits/mg protein) were prepared by two different procedures, and then subjected to density gradient centrifugation before and after loading with barium phosphate, a technique designed to increase the density of the mitochondria. The gradient distribution patterns of both unloaded and loaded preparations show that brain hexokinase does not distribute exclusively with mitochondrial marker enzymes. This is particularly evident in the loaded preparations where there is a clear distinction between the peak activities of hexokinase and mitochondrial markers. The same observation was made when the mitochondrial fraction of either untreated or barium phosphate-loaded mitochondria was subjected to titration with digitonin. In fact, at concentrations of digitonin, which almost completely solubilize marker enzymes for both the inner and outer mitochondrial membranes, a significant fraction of the total hexokinase remains particulate bound. Electron microscopy confirmed that particulate material is still present under these conditions. Significantly, hexokinase is released from particulate material only at high concentrations of digitonin which solubilize the associated microsomal marker NADPH-cytochrome c reductase. Glucose 6-phosphate, which is known to release hexokinase from the brain "mitochondrial fraction" also releases hexokinase from this unidentified particulate component. These results on brain, a normal glucose utilizing tissue, differ from those obtained previously on highly glycolytic tumor cells where identical subfractionation procedures revealed a strictly outer mitochondrial membrane location for particulate hexokinase (Parry, D. M., and Pedersen, P. L. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 10904-10912). It is concluded that in brain, hexokinase has a greater propensity to localize at nonmitochondrial receptor sites than to those known to be associated with the outer mitochondrial membrane.

Animals↗

[Nature of the changes in the activity of water-soluble enzymes in exposure of muscles to harmful agents. IV. The study of hexokinase extractability from intact and altered muscles].

A possibility of hexokinase binding with actomyosin in skeletal muscles of Rana temporaria L., and the effect of thermal alteration (15 min at 36, 37, 38, 40 and 42 degrees C) on the binding were studied. Solutions of KCl (0.075 M and 0.15 M) extract more hexokinase from intact and altered muscles than does an non-electrolyte medium. Hexokinase freely dissolved in hyaloplasm is extracted in non-electrolyte medium. Hexokinase bound with structural components of the muscle cell is extracted upon the increase in ionic force of the extractant. The solubilizing effect of electrolytes on hexokinase is higher in alterated muscles than in the intact muscles indicating the increase in hexokinase binding under thermal alteration. Actomysin isolated from muscles reveals hexokinase activity. In reprecipitated actomyosin, the larger part of its hexokinase remains in actomyosin gel, the level of hexokinase activity not depending on the number of reprecipitation procedures or on the volume of washing solution. Hexokinase in actomyosin gel is less stable to the thermal action than in water supernatant of muscle extract. This may be due to the increase in hexokinase binding with actomiosin whose sorption activity increases under the thermal denaturation.

Actomyosin↗

A modified form of mitochondrial hexokinase produced by ATP-induced solubilization.

Mitochondrial hexokinases from several rat tissues were analyzed by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Solubilization by glucose-6-P or Triton X-100 released hexokinases A and B. Solubilization by ATP resulted in a decrease of hexokinase A and the concomitant appearance of a new fraction of lower net charge (hexokinase Am) which readily reverts to hexokinase A by dialysis or dilution. Treatment of homogeneous or partially purified hexokinase A with ATP did not generate hexokinase Am. Hexokinases Am and A were equally inhibited by an anti-hexokinase immune serum and displayed the same Km values for glucose and ATP. Hexokinase Am may represent a conformer or an oligomer produced during ATP-induced solubilization of hexokinase A from mitochondria.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Further studies on the coupling of mitochondrially bound hexokinase to intramitochondrially compartmented ATP, generated by oxidative phosphorylation.

Hexokinase, bound to nonphosphorylating rat brain mitochondria, exhibits Michaelis-Menten kinetic behavior, with an apparent K(m) for ATP of 0.44 +/- 0.08 mM. After initiation of oxidative phosphorylation, a steady-state rate of Glc phosphorylation is maintained despite the fact that extramitochondrial [ATP] continues to increase but remains well below saturating levels (i.e., < 0.4 mM). This independence from extramitochondrial [ATP] is taken to indicate that hexokinase is not utilizing extramitochondrial ATP as substrate, but rather draws substrate ATP from an intramitochondrial compartment supplied by oxidative phosphorylation. The steady-state rate of Glc phosphorylation by hexokinase bound to phosphorylating mitochondria is not altered by increase in total rate of ATP production resulting from addition of hexokinase-depleted mitochondria to the system. In contrast, the steady-state rate of Glc phosphorylation by yeast hexokinase, which does not bind to mitochondria, is directly related to the total rate of ATP production in the system. These results are also consistent with the view that, during oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrially bound hexokinase is selectively using intramitochondrially compartmented ATP; such substrate selectivity would be expected to require physical association of hexokinase with the mitochondria and be dependent solely on the oxidative phosphorylation activity of the hexokinase-bearing organelles. The K(m) for Glc is only modestly affected by the binding of hexokinase to mitochondria and not further altered upon induction of active oxidative phosphorylation, suggesting that neither binding nor oxidative phosphorylation greatly affects the conformation of the Glc binding site. The reliance on intramitochondrial ATP is suggested to result from oxidative phosphorylation-dependent changes in the interaction between the mitochondrial surface and the regions of the hexokinase molecule involved in binding ATP.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Intracellular distribution of hexokinase in rabbit brain.

Hexokinase in mammalian brain is particulate and usually considered to be bound to the outer mitochondrial membrane. Investigation of rabbit brain mitochondria prepared either by differential centrifugation and discontinuous density gradient centrifugation has provided evidence that this particulate fraction also contains endoplasmic vesicles and synaptosomes. Solubilization of the bound hexokinase by different combinations of detergents and metabolites has proved the existence of different hexokinase binding sites. Electron microscopic examination of hexokinase location by immuno-gold labelling techniques confirmed that hexokinase is indeed predominantly bound to mitochondria but that a significant proportion is also bound to non-mitochondrial membranes. Attempts to quantify this distribution were unsuccessful since different figures were obtained using anti-hexokinase IgG affinity purified on immobilized native or denatured hexokinase. Binding studies of the purified rabbit brain mitochondrial hexokinase to rabbit liver mitochondria and microsomes confirmed that in addition to a binding site on mitochondria there is another binding site on microsomes. The N-terminal sequence of hexokinase has been shown to be important for mitochondria binding and also for microsome binding. These results suggest that the intracellular localization of hexokinase in rabbit brain is not exclusively mitochondrial and that the metabolic role of this enzyme should be reconsidered by including a binding site on the endoplasmic reticulum.

Animals↗

Cloning and biochemical characterization of hexokinase from the methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha.

We previously showed that, unlike other yeasts, Hansenula polymorpha possesses a glucokinase HPGLK1 that can mediate glucose repression in this yeast, although it cannot replace the regulatory function of hexokinase 2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the present study, the H. polymorpha hexokinase gene HPHXK1 was cloned by complementation of the glucose growth deficiency of the H. polymorpha double kinase-negative mutant A31-10 with a genomic library. The sequence of the 483-amino acid hexokinase protein deduced from the HPHXK1 gene showed the highest degree of identity (56%) with hexokinase from Schwanniomyces occidentalis, whereas the identity with hexokinase from Kluyveromyces lactis and both hexokinases from Sac. cerevisiae was 55%. The hexokinase protein was purified from crude extracts of H. polymorpha, using ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration. The K(m) values of the purified enzyme for glucose, fructose and ATP were 0.26 mM, 1.1 mM and 0.32 mM, respectively. H. polymorpha hexokinase was inhibited by trehalose-6-phosphate ( K(i)=12 microM) and ADP ( K(i)=1.6 mM), but not by glucose-6-phosphate. Transformation of a H. polymorpha hexokinase-negative mutant with a plasmid carrying the HPHXK1 gene restored the ability of the mutant to phosphorylate fructose and to repress the synthesis of alcohol oxidase and catalase by fructose. Therefore, hexokinase is specifically needed for the establishment of fructose repression in H. polymorpha.

Base Sequence↗

Pig red blood cell hexokinase: regulatory characteristics and possible physiological role.

The regulatory properties of pig erythrocyte hexokinase III have been studied. Among mammalian erythrocyte hexokinases, the pig enzyme shows the highest affinity for glucose and a positive cooperative effect with nH = 1.5 at all the MgATP concentrations studied (for 0.5 to 5 mM). Glucose at high concentrations is also an inhibitor of hexokinase III. Similarly, the apparent affinity constant for MgATP is independent of glucose concentration. Uncomplexed ATP and Mg are both competitive inhibitors with respect to MgATP. Glucose 6-phosphate, known as a stronger inhibitor of all mammalian erythrocyte hexokinases, is a poor inhibitor for the pig enzyme (Ki = 120 microM). Furthermore, this inhibition is not relieved by orthophosphate as with other mammalian red blood cell hexokinases. A variety of red blood cell-phosphorylated compounds were tested and found to be inhibitors of pig hexokinase III. Of these, glucose 1,6-diphosphate and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate displayed inhibition constants in the range of their intracellular concentrations. In an attempt to investigate the role of hexokinase type III in pig erythrocytes some metabolic properties of this cell have been studied. The adult pig erythrocyte is able to utilize 0.27 mumol of glucose/h/ml red blood cells (RBC) compared with values of 0.56-2.85 mumol/h/ml RBC for the other mammalian species. This reduced capacity to metabolize glucose results from a relatively poor ability of the cell membrane to transport glucose. In fact, all the glycolytic enzymes were present and a low intracellular glucose concentration was measured (0.5 mM against a plasma level of 5 mM). Furthermore, transport and utilization were concentration-dependent processes. Inosine, proposed as the major energy substrate of the pig erythrocyte, at physiological concentrations is not as efficient as glucose in maintaining reduced glutathione levels under oxidative stress. Furthermore, newborn pig erythrocytes (fully permeable to glucose) possess hexokinase type II as the predominant glucose-phosphorylating activity. This fact and the information derived from the study of the regulatory characteristics of hexokinase III and from metabolic studies on intact pig erythrocytes permit the hypothesis that the presence of this peculiar hexokinase isozyme (type III) enables the adult pig erythrocyte to metabolize low but appreciable amounts of glucose.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Hexokinase of rat brain mitochondria: relative importance of adenylate kinase and oxidative phosphorylation as sources of substrate ATP, and interaction with intramitochondrial compartments of ATP and ADP.

Interactions between intramitochondrial ATP-generating, ADP-requiring processes and ATP-requiring, ADP-generating phosphorylation of glucose by mitochondrially bound hexokinase (ATP:D-hexose 6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.1) have been investigated using well-coupled mitochondria isolated from rat brain. ADP generated by mitochondrially bound hexokinase was more effective at stimulating respiration than was ADP generated by hexokinase dissociated from the mitochondria, and pyruvate kinase was less effective as a scavenger of ADP generated by the mitochondrially bound hexokinase than was the case with ADP generated by the dissociated enzyme. These results indicate that ADP generated by the mitochondrially bound enzyme is at least partially sequestered and directed toward the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation apparatus. Under the conditions of these experiments, the maximum rate of ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation was approximately 10-fold greater than the maximum rate of ATP generation by the adenylate kinase reaction. Moreover, during periods of active oxidative phosphorylation, adenylate kinase made no detectable contribution to ATP production. Thus, adenylate kinase does not represent a major source of ATP for hexokinase bound to actively phosphorylating brain mitochondria. With adenylate kinase as the sole source of ATP, a steady state was attained in which ATP formation was balanced by utilization in the hexokinase reaction. In contrast, when oxidative phosphorylation was the source of ATP, a steady state rate of Glc phosphorylation was attained, but it was equivalent to only about 40-50% of the rate of ATP production and thus there was a continued net increase in ATP concentration in the system. Rates of Glc phosphorylation with ATP generated by oxidative phosphorylation exceeded those seen with equivalent levels of exogenously added ATP. Moreover, at total ATP concentrations greater than approximately 0.2 mM, hexokinase bound to actively phosphorylating mitochondria was unresponsive to continued slow increases in ATP levels; acute increase in ATP (by addition of exogenous nucleotide) did, however, result in increased hexokinase activity. The relative insensitivity of mitochondrially bound hexokinase to extramitochondrial ATP suggested dependence on an intramitochondrial pool (or pools) of ATP during active oxidative phosphorylation. Two intramitochondrial compartments of ATP were identified based on their selective release by inhibitors of electron transport or oxidative phosphorylation. These compartments were distinguished by their sensitivity to inhibitors and the kinetics with which they were filled with ATP generated by oxidative phosphorylation. Exogenous glycerol kinase competed effectively with mitochondrially bound hexokinase for extramitochondrial ATP, with relatively low levels of glycerol kinase completely inhibiting phosphorylation of Glc.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Lactoperoxidase-catalyzed inactivation of hexokinase.

The enzymatic activity of hexokinase (ATP : D-hexose 6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.1) decreased rapidly when the enzyme was exposed to the lactoperoxidase antimicrobial system (consisting of lactoperoxidase, H2O2 and SCN-). Inactivation did not begin until the reaction of one sulfhydryl group per hexokinase monomer was completed. Loss of enzyme activity accompanied the reaction of at least one additional sulfhydryl group per monomer. Covalent incorporation of 14C-labeled SCN- into hexokinase increased as the inactivation reaction progressed. The rate of the hexokinase activity loss dependent on temperature, pH and the presence of glucose and phosphate ion. When H2O2 and SCN- were applied to a Sepharose column bearing covalently attached lactoperoxidase, the column eluate inactivated hexokinase. This demonstrated that the lactoperoxidase molecule itself need not be in contact with hexokinase in order to catalyze hexokinase inactivation. The sulfhydryl-reactive oxidation product of SCN- which is generated by the column is sufficient. The results are consistent with a two-stage reaction in which the exposed, non-essential sulfhydryl groups on the hexokinase molecule react first to produce an enzymatically active but unstable form of hexokinase. This modified form of hexokinase then undergoes a spontaneous, temperature-dependent structural change, which allows reaction of previously shielded, essential sulfhydryl groups. The phenomenon described here suggests a possible mechanism for the antimicrobial effects of the lactoperoxidase system.

Glucose↗

Hexokinase isozyme distribution and regulatory properties in lymphoid cells.

The glycolytic enzyme hexokinase is studied in cultured leukemic lymphoblasts, in normal lymphocytes and in lymphoblasts obtained by stimulation of normal lymphocytes with phytohaemagglutinin. Hexokinase activity levels in cultured lymphoblasts and in normal lymphocytes are identical, but somewhat higher levels are found in stimulated lymphocytes. Cultured leukemic lymphoblasts differ in isozyme content in comparison to the other lymphoid cells. Besides hexokinase I, which is detected in all the lymphoid cells, they are characterized by the presence of hexokinase II. The concentration of type II increases during cell growth. Another difference between leukemic lymphoblasts and mature and stimulated lymphocytes is found in the regulatory properties of hexokinase I. Hexokinase I from both normal and stimulated lymphocytes is inhibited by glucose-1,6-diphosphate. This inhibition is decreased in part by addition of inorganic phosphate. Hexokinase I from leukemic lymphocytes, however, is inhibited to a lesser extent by glucose-1,6-diphosphate. Inorganic phosphate has no effect at all on this inhibition. In accordance with these findings a different pattern in the hexokinase I region was detected in electrophoresis with several cell types. The subisozyme hexokinase Ib, which appears to be the phosphate-regulated form, is predominant in lymphocytes, whereas it is present in a minor fraction in the cultured leukemic lymphoblasts. In these cells hexokinase Ic predominates.

Glucose-6-Phosphate↗

Characterisation of hexokinase in Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites.

We have cloned the hexokinase [E.C. 2.7.1.1] gene of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoite and obtained an active recombinant enzyme with a calculated molecular mass of 51,465Da and an isoelectric point of 5.82. Southern blot analysis indicated that the hexokinase gene existed as a single copy in the tachyzoites of T. gondii. The sequence of T. gondii hexokinase exhibited the highest identity (44%) to that of Plasmodium falciparum hexokinase and lower identity of less than 35% to those of hexokinases from other organisms. The specific activity of the homogeneously purified recombinant enzyme was 4.04 micromol/mg protein/min at 37 degrees C under optimal conditions. The enzyme could use glucose, fructose, and mannose as substrates, though it preferred glucose. Adenosine triphosphate was exclusively the most effective phosphorus donor, and pyrophosphate did not serve as a substrate. K(m) values for glucose and adenosine triphosphate were 8.0+/-0.8 microM and 1.05+/-0.25mM, respectively. No allosteric effect of substrates was observed, and the products, glucose 6-phosphate and adenosine diphosphate, had no inhibitory effect on T. gondii hexokinase activity. Other phosphorylated hexoses, fructose 6-phosphate, trehalose 6-phosphate which is an inhibitor of yeast hexokinase, and pyrophosphate, also did not affect T. gondii hexokinase activity. Native hexokinase activity was recovered in both the cytosol and membrane fractions of the whole lysate of T. gondii tachyzoites. This result suggests that T. gondii hexokinase weakly associates with the membrane or particulate fraction of the tachyzoite cell.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Binding of non-catalytic ATP to human hexokinase I highlights the structural components for enzyme-membrane association control.

BACKGROUND: Hexokinase I sets the pace of glycolysis in the brain, catalyzing the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of glucose. The catalytic properties of hexokinase I are dependent on product inhibition as well as on the action of phosphate. In vivo, a large fraction of hexokinase I is bound to the mitochondrial outer membrane, where the enzyme adopts a tetrameric assembly. The mitochondrion-bound hexokinase I is believed to optimize the ATP/ADP exchange between glucose phosphorylation and the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation reactions. RESULTS: The crystal structure of human hexokinase I has been determined at 2.25 A resolution. The overall structure of the enzyme is in keeping with the closed conformation previously observed in yeast hexokinase. One molecule of the ATP analogue AMP-PNP is bound to each N-terminal domain of the dimeric enzyme in a surface cleft, showing specific interactions with the nucleotide, and localized positive electrostatic potential. The molecular symmetry brings the two bound AMP-PNP molecules, at the centre of two extended surface regions, to a common side of the dimeric hexokinase I molecule. CONCLUSIONS: The binding of AMP-PNP to a protein site separated from the catalytic centre of human hexokinase I can be related to the role played by some nucleotides in dissociating the enzyme from the mitochondrial membrane, and helps in defining the molecular regions of hexokinase I that are expected to be in contact with the mitochondrion. The structural information presented here is in keeping with monoclonal antibody mapping of the free and mitochondrion-bound forms of the enzyme, and with sequence analysis of hexokinases that differ in their mitochondria binding properties.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

6-(p-toluidinyl)naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid as a fluorescent probe of yeast hexokinase: conformational states induced by sugar and nucleotide ligands.

The fluorescent dye 6-(p-toluidinyl)naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid (2,6-TNS) has been shown to be a sensitive and nonperturbing probe of conformational states of yeast hexokinase. The binding of sugar ligands to hexokinase induced conformational states of the enzyme which could be distinguished by monitoring 2,6-TNS fluorescence and correlated well with their behavior during the catalytic reaction. The binding of five-carbon sugar inhibitors such as lyxose induced a conformational state of hexokinase that demonstrated a small quenching of 2,6-TNS fluorescence but an increased ability to bind metal-ligands when compared to free enzyme. The binding of good sugar substrates such as glucose produced a conformational state of hexokinase which demonstrated a large enhancement (37%) of bound 2,6-TNS fluorescence. This glucose-induced conformational state had an increased ability to bind metal-ATP ligands; however, the relative changes in the dissociation constants for the various metal-ATP ligands differ from those observed with hexokinase in the presence of lyxose. Hence, the lyxose-induced conformational state of hexokinase was concluded to be significantly different from the glucose-induced conformational state. The binding of poor sugar substrates such as 5-thioglucose induced a conformational state of hexokinase similar to the conformational state induced by glucose, but with a smaller enhancement of 2,6-TNS fluorescence (15%) and a lesser ability to increase the affinity for metal-ATP ligands. The six-carbon inhibitor with a bulky group on the 2-position, N-acetylglucosamine, gave minimal changes in 2,6-TNS fluorescence and effects on metal-nucleotide binding. These conformational states are interpreted in terms of the closure of the cleft between the two domains observed by X-ray crystallography. The binding of A1ATP to free hexokinase was not observed at concentrations up to 100 microM, which is consistent with the kinetic properties reported for this metal-ATP ligand. Although both CrATP and A1ATP have been reported to produce a slow burst-type transient in the progress curve of hexokinase, only CrATP demonstrated slow changes in 2,6-TNS fluorescence, indicating that the conformational state of hexokinase induced by A1ATP is different from the conformational state induced by CrATP.

Fluorescent Dyes↗

Mitochondrial hexokinase of rat hepatoma cells in culture: solubilization and kinetic properties.

The highly glucolytic hepatoma cell line H-91 is characterized by a high hexokinase activity to rat liver; 50% of this activity is associated with the mitochondrial fraction [Bustamante, E., & Pederson, P.L. (1977) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 3735--3739]. Treatment of mitochondria from this cell line with adenosine 5'=triphosphate (ATP) or glucose 6-phosphate solubilizes bound hexokinase activity. Solubilization of the enzyme by ATP results in a six- to sevenfold purification. Free ATP, unchelated by Mg ions, induces the release of the enzyme from the membrane, whereas the MgATP complex is ineffective. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) fails to release mitochondrial hexokinase indicating that the enzyme is not attached to the membrane by divalent cations. Energization of mitochondria is not required for ATP to induce solubilization of bound hexokinase. This is evidenced by (a) the ability of the nonhydrolyzable ATP analogue adenylyl imidodiphosphate to solubilize the enzyme, (b) the inability of uncouplers and inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation to either solubilize or prevent the release of mitochondrial hexokinase, and (c) the inability of atractyloside to solubilize or prevent the release of bound hexokinase. The bound and the ATP-solubilized forms of mitochondrial hexokinase from H-91 hepatoma cells are kinetically different. When membrane bound, the enzyme has a significantly higher apparent affinity (Km = 0.25 mM) for its substrate MgATP than when solubilized (Km = 1.2 mM). Free ATP acts as a competitive inhibitor of mitochondrial hexokinase. Both the membrane-bound and the solubilized forms of mitochondrial hexokinase have about the same apparent affinity for glucose (Km = 56 and 83 microM, respectively). The experiments reported here provide the first description of the properties and the nature of binding of mitochondrial hexokinase from a tumor cell line growing in tissue culture.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Hexokinase isoenzymes of RIN-m5F insulinoma cells. Expression of glucokinase gene in insulin-producing cells.

We have analysed the pattern of expression of the hexokinase isoenzyme group in RIN-m5F insulinoma cells. Three hexokinase forms were resolved by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The most abundant isoenzyme co-eluted with hexokinase type II from rat adipose tissue and displayed a Km for glucose of 0.15 mM, similar to the adipose-tissue enzyme. Hexokinase type II was in large part associated with a particulate subcellular fraction in RIN-m5F cells. The two other hexokinases separated by ion-exchange chromatography were an enzyme similar to hexokinase type I from brain and glucokinase (or hexokinase type IV). The latter isoenzyme was identified as the liver-type glucokinase by the following properties: co-elution with hepatic glucokinase from DEAE-cellulose and DEAE-Sephadex; sigmoid saturation kinetics with glucose with half-maximal velocity at 5.6 mM and Hill coefficient (h) of 1.54; suppression of enzyme activity by antibodies raised against rat liver glucokinase; apparent Mr of 56,500 and pI of 5.6, as shown by immunoblotting after one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis; peptide map identical with that of hepatic glucokinase after proteolysis with chymotrypsin and papain. These data indicate that the gene coding for hepatic glucokinase is expressed in RIN-m5F cells, a finding consistent with indirect evidence for the presence of glucokinase in the beta-cell of the islet of Langerhans. On the other hand, the overall pattern of hexokinases is distinctly different in RIN-m5F cells and islets of Langerhans, since hexokinase type II appears to be lacking in islets. Alteration in hexokinase expression after tumoral transformation has been reported in other systems.

Adenoma, Islet Cell↗

Microheterogeneity of cytosolic and membrane-bound hexokinase II in Morris hepatoma 3924A.

Phosphorylation of glucose by hexokinase is the key step in glucose and energy metabolism of the cell. In the Morris hepatoma 3924A, hexokinase II is the predominant hexokinase isoenzyme and occurs in the cytosol as well as bound to membranes. Hexokinase II was isolated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography from both the cytosolic and the mitochondria-enriched fractions and further resolved by hydrophobic-interaction chromatography on phenyl-Sepharose into two components designated hexokinase IIa and IIb. In both the soluble and the mitochondria-enriched fractions, type IIb was the predominant form, but the IIb/IIa ratio was higher in the particulate (6-8) as compared with the cytosolic fraction (1.5-2.0). Binding of the isolated forms of the enzyme to rat liver mitochondria resulted in a 2-10-fold activation of both subtypes. Biochemical characterization showed that both subtypes are closely related to the isoenzyme commonly referred to as hexokinase II, and that the microheterogeneity was not a consequence of contamination with hexokinase I or III. Both subtypes had a molecular mass of 110 kDa, they were inhibited by Pi at concentrations higher than 5 mM, and activated by the detergent CHAPS. The two subtypes differed in electrophoretic mobility (IIa > IIb), in Km values for glucose (IIa, 0.109 mM; IIb, 0.216 mM), in Ki values for glucose 6-phosphate (IIa, 25 microM; IIb, 0.106 mM), and in Ki values for glucose 1,6-biphosphate (IIa, 12.2 microM; IIb, 5.5 microM). An artificial proteolytic cleavage as cause of the hexokinase II microheterogeneity can be excluded, since both subtypes show the same molecular mass and the ability to bind to mitochondria and phenyl-Sepharose. In addition, the relative proportions of the two subtypes did not vary markedly between several enzyme preparations. Northern-blot analysis with a hexokinase II-specific cDNA probe revealed two distinct mRNA transcripts of 5.2 and 6.3 kb in length, which offers the possibility that hexokinase II microheterogeneity is due to differential RNA transcription and/or processing.

Animals↗