Studies on acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase from rat mammary gland and mammary tumours

The activities of two lipogenic enzymes, acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase, were determined in two transplantable mammary adenocarcinomas (13762 and R3230AC) carried by non-pregnant, pregnant and lactating rats, and in mammary tissue of control animals (non-tumour-carrying) of comparable physiological states. During mammary-gland differentiation of control or tumour-carrying animals, the activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase in the lactating gland increased by about 40--50-fold over the values found in non-pregnant animals. On the other hand, in tumours carried by lactating dams there were only modest increases (1.5--2-fold) in acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase compared with the neoplasms carried by non-pregnant animals. On the basis of the Km values for different substrates and immunodiffusion and immunotitration data, the fatty acid synthase of neoplastic tissues appeared to be indistinguishable from the control mammary-gland enzyme. However, a comparison of the immunotitration and immunodiffusion experiments indicated that the mammary-gland acetyl-CoA carboxylase might differ from the enzyme present in mammary neoplasms.     

Initiation of fatty acid synthesis in rat mammary glands.

The rate of fatty acid synthesis from [6-14C]glucose in mammary tissue remained low until parturition at 22 days of gestation and increased 10-fold at 1 day post partum. Administration of progesterone on days 20 and 21 or removal of pups at parturition abolished this increase. In the latter case, administration of prolactin, corticosterone or oxytocin had no stimulatory effect; tissue from suckled glands in which the ducts had been ligated at parturition also showed no increased rate in 24 h. Foetoplacentectomy on day 18 did not stimulate fatty acid synthesis but subsequent suckling by foster pups did. Whereas lactose synthesis is initiated by withdrawal of progesterone from the circulation, a further stimulus related to removal of milk by suckling is required to initiate fatty acid synthesis.     

Effect of thyroidectomy on pathways of glucose metabolism in lactating rat mammary gland

1. Assessment of the overall metabolic changes in lactating mammary gland after thyroidectomy has been made by measurement of the incorporation of (14)C from specifically labelled glucose, pyruvate and acetate into (14)CO(2) and (14)C-labelled lipid in the experimental rats and in sham-operated control animals. 2. Thyroidectomy depressed the oxidation of (14)C-labelled substrates, an effect still apparent when the control rats were pair-fed with thyroidectomized rats; however, the ratio of oxidation of [1-(14)C]glucose/oxidation of [6-(14)C]glucose was unaltered. In parallel with these studies it was revealed that the activities of hexokinase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and NADP-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase were all lower in the thyroidectomized group than in the pair-fed control group. 3. Thyroidectomy also lowered the incorporation of (14)C-labelled substrates into (14)C-labelled lipid, an effect further studied by measurement of the activities of citrate-cleavage enzyme and acetate thiokinase. Restricting the food intake of the control rats to that of the thyroidectomized group lowered the activity of citrate-cleavage enzyme, but no further depression was observed on thyroidectomy. The oxidized and reduced nicotinamide nucleotide content of mammary tissue was shown to be decreased in the thyroidectomized rats compared with the control rats.     

The pattern of fatty acid synthesis in lactating rabbit mammary gland studied in vivo

The biosynthesis of fatty acids has been studied in lactating rabbits at 6h after intravenous injection of sodium [1-(14)C]acetate. The specific radioactivities of the individual fatty acids (C(6:0) to C(14:0)) and the proportions of these fatty acids synthesized were similar in mammary tissue and milk. Hexanoic acid had the highest specific radioactivity, and the C(8:0)-C(14:0) fatty acids had similar specific radioactivities, which were about five times those of C(16) and C(18) acids. No radioactivity was detected in fatty acids of chain length C(14) in these tissues were similar to those of the long-chain fatty acids in the milk and mammary gland. The results show that the C(4:0)-C(14:0) fatty acids are synthesized within the mammary gland rather than by fatty acid uptake from circulating blood or by oxidation of long-chain fatty acids within the gland. We conclude that de novo synthesis of esterified fatty acids in vivo by this tissue has a high degree of chain-length specificity.     

Effect of iodide-deficiency on rat mammary gland.

When rats are kept iodide-deficient, atrophy and necrosis takes place in the mammary gland and areas of dysplasia and atypia are seen. Administration of estradiol to iodide-deficient rats stimulates cell division in the gland and leads to the formation of alveoli. Continued stimulation by estradiol produces changes in the newly-formed alveolar cells. Their nucleoli are altered and show a separation of components. Ribosomes and lipid droplets increase and the cells synthesize large vacuoles containing protein. The secretion of great quantities of this material into areas of the tissue where regressive changes have occurred undoubtedly contributes to the formation of cysts within the gland. The present findings indicate that iodide-deficiency alters the structure and function of mammary gland alveolar cells and makes them highly sensitive to stimulation by estradiol.     

Specific modification of fatty acid synthetase from lactating rat mammary gland by chymotrypsin and trypsin.

Fatty acid synthetase from lactating rat mammary gland after limited proteolysis with chymotrypsin or trypsin synthesizes longer chain fatty acids than those produced by the native enzyme. Of the seven partial reactions of the multienzyme complex, only the thioesterase activity was decreased. The results suggest that modification of the fatty acid synthetase product specificity by chymotrypsin and trypsin results from a specific action of these proteases on the thioesterase component. Trypsin, but not chymotrypsin, cleaved a catalytically active thioesterase from the complex; it thus appears that limited trypsinization will be a useful tool for the isolation of the thioesterase component of the multienzyme.     

Effect of alloxan-diabetes and treatment with anti-insulin serum on pathways of glucose metabolism in lactating rat mammary gland

1. The overall metabolic changes in lactating mammary gland in alloxan-diabetic and anti-insulin-serum-treated rats were assessed by measurement of the incorporation of (14)C from specifically labelled glucose, pyruvate and acetate into carbon dioxide and lipid, together with measurements of enzymes concerned with the pentose phosphate pathway and with citrate metabolism. 2. Alloxan-diabetes depressed the rate of formation of (14)CO(2) from [1-(14)C]glucose and [2-(14)C]glucose to approx. 10% of the control rate; this was partially reversed by addition of insulin in vitro. The quotient Oxidation of [1-(14)C]glucose/Oxidation of [6-(14)C]glucose fell from a value of 17.6 in the control group to 3.9 in the diabetic group and was restored to 14.3 in the presence of insulin in vitro. In keeping with these results it was shown that glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activities were significantly decreased in alloxan-diabetic rats. 3. Alloxan-diabetes depressed the decarboxylation and the oxidation of labelled pyruvate, but not the oxidation of labelled acetate. 4. The synthesis of lipid from specifically labelled glucose was greatly decreased, that from [2-(14)C]pyruvate was almost unchanged and that from [1-(14)C]acetate alone was increased in alloxandiabetic rats. However, the stimulation of lipid synthesis from acetate by glucose was small in the alloxan-diabetic rats compared with the controls. Insulin in vitro partially reversed all these effects. Both citrate-cleavage enzyme and acetate thiokinase activities were decreased in alloxan-diabetic rats. 5. Treatment of rats with anti-insulin serum depressed the formation of (14)CO(2) from [1-(14)C]glucose and [2-(14)C]glucose, but increased that from [6-(14)C]glucose. This was completely restored by the presence of insulin in vitro. The quotient Oxidation of [1-(14)C]glucose/Oxidation of [6-(14)C]glucose fell from a value of 17.6 in the control group to 3.8 in the anti-insulin-serum-treated group. There were no changes in the activity of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase or 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, but the hexokinase distribution changed and the content of the soluble fraction increased significantly. 6. The synthesis of lipid from specifically labelled glucose was depressed in anti-insulin-serum-treated rats; this effect was completely reversed by addition of insulin in vitro to the tissue slices.