Control of phosphofructokinase from rat skeletal muscle. Effects of fructose diphosphate, AMP, ATP, and citrate.

Under conditions used previously for demonstrating glycolytic oscillations in muscle extracts (pH 6.65, 0.1 to 0.5 mM ATP), phosphofructokinase from rat skeletal muscle is strongly activated by micromolar concentrations of fructose diphosphate. The activation is dependent on the presence of AMP. Activation by fructose diphosphate and AMP, and inhibition by ATP, is primarily due to large changes in the apparent affinity of the enzyme for the substrate fructose 6-phosphate. These control properties can account for the generation of glycolytic oscillations. The enzyme was also studied under conditions approximating the metabolite contents of skeletal muscle in vivo (pH 7.0, 10mM ATP, 0.1 mM fructose 6-phosphate). Under these more inhibitory conditions, phosphofructokinase is strongly activated by low concentrations of fructose diphosphate, with half-maximal activation at about 10 muM. Citrate is a potent inhibitor at physiological concentrations, whereas AMP is a strong activator. Both AMP and citrate affect the maximum velocity and have little effect on affinity of the enzyme for fructose diphosphate.     

Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and glycolytic oscillations in skeletal muscle extracts

Oscillatory behavior of glycolysis in cell-free extracts of rat skeletal muscle involves bursts of phosphofructokinase activity due to autocatalytic activation by fructose-1,6-P2. Fructose-2,6-P2 is an even more potent activator of phosphofructokinase and is competitive with fructose-1,6-P2 in binding and kinetic studies. The possible role and effects of fructose-2,6-P2 on the oscillating system were therefore examined. When muscle extracts were provided with 1 mM ATP and 10 mM glucose, fructose-2,6-P2 slowly accumulated to 50 nM in 1 h. The nearly monotonic rise, in contrast to the 50-fold oscillations in fructose-1,6-P2, indicated no involvement of fructose-2,6-P2 in the oscillatory process. Addition of 0.5 microM fructose-2,6-P2 blocked the oscillations, and there was negligible appearance of glycolytic intermediates from fructose-1,6-P2 to phosphoenolpyruvate, although similar amounts of lactate accumulated. In the presence of 0.2 microM fructose-2,6-P2, there were small, transient accumulations of fructose-1,6-P2, suggesting aborted activations of phosphofructokinase. Oscillations were not blocked by 0.1 microM fructose-2,6-P2. The average [ATP]/[ADP] ratio in the presence of 0.2 or 0.5 microM fructose-2,6-P2 was half the value in its absence, demonstrating the advantage of the oscillatory behavior in maintaining a high energy state. In the presence of higher, near physiological levels of ATP and citrate, inhibitors which reduce the affinity of phosphofructokinase for fructose-2,6-P2, glycolytic oscillations were not blocked by 1 microM fructose-2,6-P2, its approximate concentration in vivo.     

The effect of natural and synthetic D-fructose 2,6-bisphosphate on the regulatory kinetic properties of liver and muscle phosphofructokinases

The effect of natural "activation factor" and synthetic fructose-2,6-P2 on the allosteric kinetic properties of liver and muscle phosphofructokinases was investigated. Both synthetic and natural fructose-2,6-P2 show identical effects on the allosteric kinetic properties of both enzymes. Fructose-2,6-P2 counteracts inhibition by ATP and citrate and decreases the Km for fructose-6-P. This fructose ester also acts synergistically with AMP in releasing ATP inhibition. The Km values of liver and muscle phosphofructokinase for fructose-2,6-P2 in the presence of 1.25 mM ATP are 12 milliunits/ml (or 24 nM) and 5 milliunits/ml (or 10 nM), respectively. At near physiological concentrations of ATP (3 mM) and fructose-6-P (0.2 mM), however, the Km values for fructose-2,6-P2 are increased to 12 microM and 0.8 microM for liver and muscle enzymes, respectively. Thus, fructose-2,6-P2 is the most potent activator of the enzyme compared to other known activators such as fructose-1,6-P2. The rates of the reaction catalyzed by the enzymes under the above conditions are nonlinear: the rates decelerate in the absence or in the presence of lower concentrations of fructose-2,6-P2, but the rates become linear in the presence of higher concentrations of fructose-2,6-P2. Fructose-2,6-P2 also protects phosphofructokinase against inactivation by heat. Fructose-2,6-P2, therefore, may be the most important allosteric effector in regulation of phosphofructokinase in liver as well as in other tissues.     

Regulation of phosphofructokinase at physiological concentration of enzyme studied by stopped-flow measurements

Stopped-flow measurements have been carried out to study some basic allosteric properties of muscle and yeast phosphofructokinase at physiological concentration of enzyme. An important increase in the affinity for fructose-6-P accompanied by an intense decrease in the ATP inhibition was observed with the muscle enzyme, which also became insensitive to fructose-2,6-P2 under these conditions. Yeast phosphofructokinase exhibited a significant diminution in the inhibition by ATP, although with no apparent change in the affinity for fructose-6-P. These results provide strong support in favor of the dependence of the allosteric regulation of phosphofructokinase on its concentration in vivo.     

Rat thyroid phosphofructokinase. Comparison of the regulatory and molecular properties with those of rat muscle enzyme.

The kinetic and molecular properties of rat thyroid phosphofructokinase (specific activity 134 units/mg) were compared with those of rat muscle phosphofructokinase (specific activity 135 units/mg). Thyroid and muscle phosphofructokinase showed similar sedimentation patterns in sucrose density gradients; their affinity for DEAE-cellulose was similar but not identical. A comparison of the kinetic properties revealed differences in the pH optima. Striking differences in the kinetic properties were shown below pH 7.4; the thyroid enzyme was less inhibited by ATP or citrate and more sensitive to activation by cyclic 3':5'-AMP than the muscle enzyme. A study of the effects of some cyclic as well as linear mononucleotides, such as cyclic AMP, cyclic IMP, cyclic GMP, cyclic CMP, cyclic UMP, 5'-AMP, and 3'-AMP on thyroid phosphofructokinase showed that at concentrations as low as 1 micrometer only cyclic AMP and cyclic IMP were able to activate thyroid enzyme in the presence of low fructose-6-P and high ATP concentrations.     

Modulation of muscle phosphofructokinase at physiological concentration of enzyme

Two approaches have been used to study the allosteric modulation of phosphofructokinase at physiological concentration of enzyme; a "slow motion" approach based on the use of a very low Mg2+/ATP ratio to conveniently lower Vmax, and the addition of polyethylene glycol as a "crowding" agent to favor aggregation of diluted enzyme. At 0.6 mg/ml muscle phosphofructokinase exhibited a drastic decrease in the ATP inhibition and the concomitant increase in the apparent affinity for fructose-6-P, as compared to a 100-fold diluted enzyme. Similar results were obtained with diluted enzyme in the presence of 10% polyethylene glycol (Mr = 6000). Results with these two approaches in vitro were essentially similar to those previously observed in situ (Aragón, J. J., Felíu, F. E., Frenkel, R., and Sols, A. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 77, 6324-6328), indicating that the enzyme is strongly dependent on homologous interactions at physiological concentrations. With polyethylene glycol it was observed that within the physiological range of concentration of substrates and the other positive effectors, fructose-2,6-P2 still activates the liver phosphofructokinase although it no longer significantly affects the muscle isozyme. In the presence of polyethylene glycol, muscle phosphofructokinase can approach its maximal rate even in the presence of physiologically high concentrations of ATP. Three minor activities of muscle phosphofructokinase have been studied at high enzyme concentration: the hydrolysis of MgATP (ATPase) and fructose-1,6-P2 (FBPase), produced in the absence of the other substrate, and the reverse reaction from MgADP and fructose-1,6-P2. The kinetic study of these activities has allowed a new insight into the mechanisms involved in the modulation of phosphofructokinase activity. The binding of (Mg)ATP at its regulatory site reduces the ability of the enzyme to cleave the bond of the terminal phosphate of MgATP at the substrate site. The positive effectors (Pi, cAMP, NH+4, fructose-1,6-P2, and fructose-2,6-P2) decrease the inhibitory effect of MgATP. Citrate and fructose-2,6-P2 both act as mechanistically "secondary" effectors in the sense that citrate does not inhibit and fructose-2,6-P2 does not activate the FBPase activity, requiring both the presence of ATP to affect the enzyme activity. In conclusion it appears that the regulatory behavior of mammalian phosphofructokinases is utterly dependent on the fact of their high concentrations in vivo.     

Affinity labeling of AMP-ADP sites in heart phosphofructokinase by 5-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine.

The purine nucleotide derivative, 5′-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine (5′-FSO₂B_ZAdo) functions as an affinity label for the allosteric sites of phosphofructokinase. The modified enzyme at pH 6.9 is insensitive to allosteric inhibition by ATP, activation by AMP, c-AMP, ADP and shows no sigmoidal kinetics for fructose-6-P. The reaction does not appear to occur at the catalytic site since modification of the enzyme does not significantly affect its specific activity nor its Michaelis constant at pH 8.2. ADP, and to a much lesser degree AMP and ATP, protects the enzyme from modification by the adenosine reagent. The modified enzyme essentially does not bind significant amounts of AMP, c-AMP, ADP, but still binds an analog of ATP, AppNHp. The adenosine affinity label will be of value in studies on the nature of the AMP-ADP allosteric sites.     

Activation of muscle phosphofructokinase by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate is differently affected by other regulatory metabolites

Fructose-2,6-P2 and fructose-1,6-P2 are strong activators of muscle phosphofructokinase. They have been shown to be competitive in binding studies, and it is generally thought that they affect the physical and catalytic properties of the enzyme in the same manner. However, there are indications in published data that the effects of the two fructose bisphosphates on phosphofructokinase are not identical. To examine this possibility, the kinetics of activation of rat skeletal muscle phosphofructokinase by the two fructose bisphosphates were compared in the presence of other regulatory metabolites. Citrate greatly increased the K0.5 of the enzyme for fructose-2,6-P2, with little effect on the maximum activation. In contrast, citrate greatly decreased the maximum activation by fructose-1,6-P2, with only a small effect on the K0.5. Changes in the concentrations of the inhibitor ATP or the activator AMP similarly altered the K0.5 for fructose-2,6-P2, but altered the maximum activation by fructose-1,6-P2. Finally, when fructose-1,6-P2 was added in the presence of a given concentration of fructose-2,6-P2, phosphofructokinase activity was decreased if the activation by fructose-2,6-P2 alone was greater than the maximum activation by fructose-1,6-P2 alone. These results are consistent with competition of the two fructose bisphosphates for the same binding site, but indicate that the conformational changes produced by their binding are different.     

Phosphorylation and inactivation of yeast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase from yeast

Purified fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae was phosphorylated in vitro by purified yeast cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Maximal phosphorylation was accompanied by an inactivation of the enzyme by about 60%. In vitro phosphorylation caused changes in the kinetic properties of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase: 1) the ratio R(Mg2+/Mn2+) of the enzyme activities measured at 10 mM Mg2+ and 2 mM Mn2+, respectively, decreased from 2.6 to 1.2; 2) the ratio R(pH 7/9) of the activities measured at pH 7.0 and pH 9.0, respectively, decreased from 0.62 to 0.38, indicating a shift of the pH optimum to the alkaline range. However, the affinity of the enzyme for its inhibitors fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2) and AMP, expressed as the concentration required for 50% inhibition, was not changed. The maximum amount of phosphate incorporated into fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was 0.6-0.75 mol/mol of the 40-kDa subunit. Serine was identified as the phosphate-labeled amino acid. The initial rate of in vitro phosphorylation of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, obtained with a maximally cAMP-activated protein kinase, increased when Fru-2,6-P2 and AMP, both potent inhibitors of the enzyme, were added. As Fru-2,6-P2 and AMP did not affect the phosphorylation of histone by cAMP-dependent protein kinase, the inhibitors must bind to fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase in such a way that the enzyme becomes a better substrate for phosphorylation. Nevertheless, Fru-2,6-P2 and AMP did not increase the maximum amount of phosphate incorporated into fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase beyond that observed in the presence of cAMP alone.     

Influence of phosphate on the allosteric behavior of yeast phosphofructokinase.

Initial rate data obtained with purified yeast phosphofructokinase (PFK) show an ATP dependent kinetic cooperativity with respect to fructose-6-phosphate. In the presence of 25 mM phosphate, the cooperativity index (Hill number) is related to the half saturation concentration of fructose-6-phosphate as predicted by the concerted allosteric model in the case of a “K-system”. In the absence of phosphate, however, the kinetic behavior of yeast PFK is more complex and the cooperativity index is invariant with respect to the half saturation concentration of fructose-6-phosphate which is increased by ATP. In both cases, 5′AMP behaves as a strong activator of the enzyme. These kinetic data suggest that the two distinct functions of ATP as phosphate donnor and as allosteric inhibitor, respectively, are supported by different binding sites. These regulatory properties of yeast PFK are discussed in relation to glycolytic oscillations.     

Differences in phosphofructokinase regulation in normal and tumor rat thyroid cells.

The kinetic and molecular properties of a phosphofructokinase derived from a transplantable rat thyroid tumor lacking regulatory control on the glycolytic pathway were studied. The properties of the near-purified enzyme (specific activity 140 units/mg) were compared with those of phosphofructokinase from normal rat thyroid (specific activity 134 units/mg). The electrophoretic mobilities and gel elution behavior of these two enzymes were almost similar. The thyroid tumor phosphofructokinase showed, however, a greater degree of size and/or shape heterogeneity in the presence of ATP than the normal thyroid enzyme, as determined by gel filtration and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Kinetic studies below pH 7.4 showed a sigmoid response curve for both enzymes when the velocity was determined at 1 mM ATP with varying levels of fructose-6-P. The interaction coefficient, however, was 4.2 and 2.6 for normal and tumor thyroid phosphofructokinase, respectively. Ammonium sulfate decreased the cooperative interactions with the substrate fructose-6-P in both enzymes. The thyroid tumor enzyme, however, was less sensitive to the inhibition by ATP and by citrate. The reversal of citrate inhibition by cyclic 3':5'-adenosine monophosphate was also less effective with the thyroid tumor phosphofructokinase, while the protective effect of fructose-6-P was stronger. The difference in citrate inhibition between tumor and normal thyroid enzyme was not strongly affected by varying the MgCl2 concentration up to 10 mM. It is concluded that the complex allosteric regulation typical of the normal thyroid phosphofructokinase is still present in the enzyme isolated from the thyroid tumor tissue. The latter, however, is more loosely controlled by its physiological effectors, such as ATP, citrate, and cyclic AMP.     

Purification and properties of adductor muscle phosphofructokinase from the oyster, Crassostrea virginica. The aerobic/anaerobic transition: role of arginine phosphate in enzyme control.

Phosphofructokinase from oyster (Crassostrea virginica) adductor muscle occurs in a single electrophorectic form at an activity of 8.1 mumol of product formed per minute per gram wet weight. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity by a novel method involving extraction in dilute ethanol and subsequent precipitation with polyethylene glycol. Oyster adductor phosphofructokinase has a molecular weight of 3400000 +/- 20000 as measured by Sephadex gel chromatography. Mg2+ or Mn2+ can satisfy the divalent ion requirement while ATP, GTP, or ITP can serve as phosphate donors for the reaction. Oyster adductor phosphofructokinase displays hyperbolic saturation kinetics with respect to all substrates (fructose 6-phosphate, ATP, and Mg2+) at either pH 7.9 OR PH 6.8. The Michaelis constant for fructose 6 phosphate at pH 6.8, the cellular pH of anoxic oyster tissues, is 3.5 mM. In the presence of AMP, by far the most potent activator and deinhibitor of the enzyme, this drops to 0.70 mM. Many traditional effectors of phosphofructokinase including citrate, NAD(P)H,Ca2+, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, 3-phosphoglycerate, ADP, and phosphoenolpyruvate do not alter enzyme activity when tested at their physiological concentrations. Monovalent ions (K +, NH4+) are activators of the enzyme. ATP and arginine phosphate are the only compounds found to inhibit the adductor enzyme. The inhibitory action of both can be reversed by physiological concentrations of AMP(0.2- 1.0mM) and to a lesser extent by high concentrations of Pi (20 mM) and adenosine 3' :5'-monophosphate (0.1 mM). The two inhibitors exhibit very different pH versus inhibition profiles. The Ki (ATP) decreases from 5.0 mM to 1.3 mM as the pH decreases from 7.9 to 6.8, whereas the Ki for arginine phosphate increases from 1.3 mM to 4.5 mM for the same pH drop. Of all compounds tested, only AMP, within its physiological range, activated adductor phosphofructokinase significantly at low pH values. The kinetic data support the proposal that arginine phosphate, not ATP or citrate, is the most likely regulator of adductor phosphofructokinase in vivo under aerobic, high tissue pH, conditions. In anoxia, the depletion of arginine phosphate reserves and the increase in AMP concentrations in the tissue, coupled with the increase in the Ki for arginine phosphate brought about by low pH conditions, serves to activate phosphofructokinase to aid maintenance of anaerobic energy production.     

Phosphofructokinase from Dirofilaria immitis. Stimulation of activity by phosphorylation with cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase

Phosphofructokinase has been partially purified from the filariid helminth, Dirofilaria immitis, using ion exchange and affinity chromatography. The D. immitis phosphofructokinase cross-reacted with antibodies prepared against the phosphofructokinase from Ascaris suum. These antibodies had been bound to agarose beads. The enzyme was eluted from the immobilized antigen-antibody complex by denaturing agents, and the subunit molecular weight determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis was identical to that of the ascarid enzyme, 90,000. At pH 6.8, substrate saturation curves of the filarial phosphofructokinase with ATP revealed that the enzyme was inhibited by ATP. The fructose-6-P saturation curve was sigmoid at all ATP levels tested. Phosphorylation of the D. immitis phosphofructokinase by the catalytic subunit of beef heart cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase resulted in incorporation of 0.8 mol of phosphate/mol of subunit and in a 3-4-fold increase in catalytic activity when measured at pH 6.8 at inhibitory levels of ATP. Additional kinetic studies revealed that the phosphorylated enzyme was less susceptible to ATP inhibition than was the nonphosphorylated form. It is proposed that phosphorylation of phosphofructokinase plays an important role in the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in the filarial as well as the intestinal-dwelling nematodes.     

A binding study of the interaction of beta-D-fructose 2,6-bisphosphate with phosphofructokinase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase

The binding of beta-D-fructose 2,6-bisphosphate to rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase and rabbit liver fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was studied using the column centrifugation procedure (Penefsky, H. S., (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 2891-2899). Phosphofructokinase binds 1 mol of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate/mol of protomer (Mr = 80,000). The Scatchard plots of the binding of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate to phosphofructokinase are nonlinear in the presence of three different buffer systems and appear to exhibit negative cooperativity. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and glucose 1,6-bisphosphate inhibit the binding of fructose-2,6-P2 with Ki values of 15 and 280 microM, respectively. Sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate, ATP, and high concentrations of phosphate also inhibit the binding. Other metabolites including fructose-6-P, AMP, and citrate show little effect. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase binds 1 mol of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate/mol of subunit (Mr = 35,000) with an affinity constant of 1.5 X 10(6) M-1. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, fructose-6-P, and phosphate are competitive inhibitors with Ki values of 4, 2.7, and 230 microM, respectively. Sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate (1 mM) inhibits approximately 50% of the binding of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate to fructose bisphosphatase, but AMP has no effect. Mn2+, Co2+, and a high concentration of Mg2+ inhibit the binding. Thus, we may conclude that fructose 2,6-bisphosphate binds to phosphofructokinase at the same allosteric site for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate while it binds to the catalytic site of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase.     

Kinetic behaviour and regulatory properties of phosphofructokinase in rat bone marrow cells

Phosphofructokinase from bone marrow cells shows sigmoidal kinetics with respect to fructose-6-phosphate when studied at near physiological concentrations of ATP (1.5 mM) and pH (7.1). The enzyme is clearly inhibited by ATP concentrations higher than 0.75 mM. pH increases maximum velocity and affinity of the enzyme towards fructose-6-phosphate and decreases the cooperative behavior of the enzyme. Citrate behaves as a negative allosteric effector. ATP deinhibition and activation of bone marrow phosphofructokinase, by either AMP or cAMP, were also observed. cAMP seems to have a higher affinity for the enzyme than AMP. cGMP does not show any antagonistic effect versus cAMP as has been previously observed in rat erythrocytes or reticulocytes.     

Heart phosphofructokinase. Allosteric kinetics following affinity labeling modification of the enzyme by 8-[m-(m-fluorosulfonylbenzamido) benzylthio] adenine.

An adenine analog 8-[m-(m-fluorosulfonylbenzamido)benzylthio]adenine (FSB-adenine) reacts covalently with sheep heart phosphofructokinase. Under conditions optimal for allosteric kinetics the modified enzyme is less sensitive to inhibition by ATP and insensitive to activation by AMP, cyclic AMP, and ADP. The concentration of fructose-6-P necessary for half-maximal activity is markedly decreased, while the cooperativity to the same substrate is not changed under the same conditions. The modified enzyme is more stable at pH 6.5 when compared with the native enzyme. Changes in the allosteric kinetics of the enzyme are proportional to the extent of modification reaching maximal effect when 3.2 mol of the reagent were bound/mol of tetrameric enzyme. Affinity labeling of the enzyme by the adenine derivative does not affect significantly the catalytic site. This is evidenced by the demonstration that under assay conditions optimal for Michaelian kinetics neither the Km for ATP nor for fructose-6-P is significantly changed following chemical modification. Maximal activity of the modified enzyme was 60% of the native enzyme. ADP gives the best protection, while AMP gives less protection against modification by the reagent. ATP slows the rate of the reaction and causes a slight decrease in maximum binding of the reagent to the enzyme. Modification of the enzyme caused a marked reduction of AMP and ADP binding. The evidence indicates that the modified site is a nucleotide mono- and diphosphate activation site.     

Binding and regulatory properties of phosphofructokinase from swine kidney

Summary The influence of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate on the activation of purified swine kidney phosphofructokinase as a function of the concentration of fructose 6P, ATP and citrate was investigated. The purified enzyme was nearly completely inhibited in the presence of 2 mM ATP. The addition of 20 nM fructose 2,6-P₂ reversed the inhibition and restored more than 80% of the activity. In the absence of fructose 2,6-P₂ the reaction showed a sigmoidal dependence on fructose 6-phosphate. The addition of 10 nM fructose 2,6-bisphosphate decreased the K_0.5 for fructose 6-phosphate from 3 mM to 0.4 mM in the presence of 1.5 mM ATP. These results clearly show that fructose 2,6-bisphosphate increases the affinity of the enzyme for fructose 6-phosphate and decreases the inhibitory effect of ATP. The extent of inhibition by citrate was also significantly decreased in the presence of fructose 2,6-phosphate.The influence of various effectors of phosphofructokinase on the binding of ATP and fructose 6-P to the enzyme was examined in gel filtration studies. It was found that kidney phosphofructokinase binds 5.6 moles of fructose 6-P per mole of enzyme, which corresponds to about one site per subunit of tetrameric enzyme. The K_D for fructose 6-P was 13 µM and in the presence of 0.5 mM ATP it increased to 27 µM. The addition of 0.3 mM citrate also increased the K_D for fructose 6-P to about 40 µM. AMP, 10 µM, decreased the K_D to 5 µM and the addition of fructose 2,6-phosphate decreased the K_D for fructose 6-P to 0.9 µM. The addition of these compounds did not effect the maximal amount of fructose 6-P bound to the enzyme, which indicated that the binding site for these compounds might be near, but was not identical to the fructose 6-P binding site. The enzyme bound a maximum of about 12.5 moles of ATP per mole, which corresponds to 3 moles per subunit. The K_D of the site with the highest affinity for ATP was 4 µM, and it increased to 15 µM in the presence of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. The addition of 50 µM fructose 1,6-bisphosphate increased the K_D for ATP to 5.9 µM. AMP increased the K_D to 5.9 µM whereas 0.3 mM citrate decreased the K_D for ATP to about 2 µM. The K_D for AMP, was 2.0 µM; the K_D for cyclic AMP was 1.0 µM; the K_D for ADP was 0.9 µM; the K_D for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate was 0.5 µM; the K_D for citrate was 0.4 µM and the K_D for fructose 2,6-bisphosphate was about 0.1 µM. A maximum of about 4 moles of AMP, ADP and cyclic AMP and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate were bound per mole of enzyme. Taken collectively, these and previous studies (9) indicate that fructose 2,6-phosphate is a very effective activator of swine kidney phosphofructokinase. This effector binds to the enzyme with a very high affinity, and significantly decreases the binding of ATP at the inhibitory site on the enzyme.     

Oscillatory synthesis of glucose 1,6-bisphosphate and frequency modulation of glycolytic oscillations in skeletal muscle extracts

Oscillatory behavior of glycolysis in cell-free extracts of rat skeletal muscle involves bursts of phosphofructokinase activity, due to autocatalytic activation by fructose-1,6-P2. Glucose-1,6-P2 similarly might activate phosphofructokinase in an autocatalytic manner, because it is produced in a side reaction of phosphofructokinase and in a side reaction of phosphoglucomutase using fructose-1,6-P2. When muscle extracts were provided with 1 mM ATP and 10 mM glucose, glucose-1,6-P2 accumulated in a stepwise, but monotonic, manner to 0.7 microM in 1 h. The stepwise increases occurred during the phases when fructose-1,6-P2 was available, consistent with glucose-1,6-P2 synthesis in the phosphoglucomutase side reaction. Addition of 5-20 microM glucose-1,6-P2 increased the frequency of the oscillations in a dose-dependent manner and progressively shortened the time interval before the first burst of phosphofructokinase activity. Addition of 30 microM glucose-1,6-P2 blocked the oscillations. The peak values of the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio were then eliminated, and the average [ATP]/[ADP] ratio was reduced by half. In the presence of higher, near physiological concentrations of ATP and citrate (which reduce the activation of phosphofructokinase by glucose-1,6-P2), high physiological concentrations of glucose-1,6-P2 (50-100 microM) increased the frequency of the oscillations and did not block them. We conclude that autocatalytic activation of phosphofructokinase by fructose-1,6-P2, but not by glucose-1,6-P2, is the mechanism generating the oscillations in muscle extracts. Glucose-1,6-P2 may nevertheless play a role in facilitating the initiation of the oscillations and in modulating their frequency.     

Hexose phosphate binding sites of fructose-6-phosphate,2-kinase:fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase. Interaction with N-bromoacetylethanolamine phosphate and 3-bromo-1,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 1,4-bisphosphate

N-Bromoacetylethanolamine phosphate and 3-bromo-1,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 1,4-bisphosphate have been tested in order to study the hexose phosphate binding sites of a bifunctional enzyme, fructose-6-P,2-kinase:fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase. N-Bromoacetylethanolamine phosphate is a competitive inhibitor with respect to fructose-6-P (Ki = 0.24 mM) and a noncompetitive inhibitor with ATP (Ki = 0.8 mM). The reagent inactivates fructose-6-P,2-kinase but not fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase, and the inactivation is prevented by fructose-6-P. The inactivation reaction follows pseudo first-order kinetics to completion and with increasing concentrations of N-bromoacetylethanolamine phosphate a rate saturation effect is observed. The concentration of the reagent giving the half-maximum inactivation is 2.2 mM and the apparent first order rate constant is 0.0046 s-1. The enzyme alkylated by N-bromoacetylethanolamine-P has lost over 90% of the kinase activity, retains nearly full activity of fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase, and its inhibition by fructose-6-P is not altered. 3-Bromo-1,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 1,4-bisphosphate is also a competitive inhibitor of fructose-6-P,2-kinase with respect to fructose-6-P in the forward reaction and fructose-2,6-P2 in the reverse direction. This reagent inhibits 93% of fructose-6-P,2-kinase but activates fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 3.7-fold. 3-Bromo-1,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 1,4-bisphosphate alters the fructose-2,6-P2 saturation kinetic curve from negative cooperativity to normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics with K0.5 of 0.8 microM. The reagent, however, has no effect on the fructose-6-P inhibition of the phosphatase. These results strongly suggest that hexose phosphate binding sites of fructose-6-P,2-kinase and fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase are distinct and located in different regions of this bifunctional enzyme.     

Phosphofructokinase of Solanum tuberosum tuber

Potato tuber phosphofructokinase was purified 19·.6-fold by a combination of ethanol fractionation and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. The enzyme was very unstable; its pH optimum was 8·0. K_m for fructose-6-phosphate, ATP and Mg²⁺ was 2·1 × 10^?4 M, 4·5 × 10^?5 M and 4·0 × 10^?4 M respectively. ITP, GTP, UTP and CTP can act as phosphate donors, but are less active than ATP. Inhibition of enzyme activity by high levels of ATP was reversed by increasing the concentration of fructose-6-phosphate; the affinity of enzyme for fructose-6-phosphate decreased with increasing concentration of ATP. 5′-AMP, 3′,5′-AMP, 3′-AMP, deoxy AMP, UMP, IMP, CMP, GMP, ADP, CDP, GDP and UDP did not reverse the inhibition of enzyme by ATP. ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and citrate inhibited phosphofructokinase activity but Pi did not affect it. Phosphofructokinase was not reactivated reversibly by mild change of pH and addition of effectors.