Loss of latent activity of liver microsomal membrane enzymes evoked by lipid peroxidation. Studies of nucleoside diphosphatase, glucose-6-phosphatase, and UDP glucuronyltransferase

The effects of lipid peroxidation on latent microsomal enzyme activities were examined in NADPH-reduced microsomes from phenobarbital-pretreated male rats. Lipid peroxidation, stimulated by iron or carbon tetrachloride, was assayed as malondialdehyde formation. Independent of the stimulating agent of lipid peroxidation, latency of microsomal nucleoside diphosphatase activity remained unaffected up to microsomal peroxidation equivalent to the formation of about 12 nmol malondialdehyde/mg microsomal protein. However, above this threshold a close correlation was found between lipid peroxidation and loss of latent enzyme activity. The loss of latency evoked by lipid peroxidation was comparable to the loss of latency attainable by disrupting the microsomal membrane by detergent. Loss of latent enzyme activity produced by lipid peroxidation was also observed for microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase and UDPglucuronyltransferase. In contrast to nucleoside diphosphatase, however, both enzymes were inactivated by lipid peroxidation, as indicated by pronounced decreases of their activities in detergent-treated microsomes. According to the respective optimal oxygen partial pressure (po2) for lipid peroxidation, the iron-mediated effects on enzyme activities were maximal at a po2 of 80 mmHg and the one mediated by carbon tetrachloride at a po2 of 5 mmHg. Under anaerobic conditions no alterations of enzyme activities were detected. These results demonstrate that loss of microsomal latency only occurs when peroxidation of the microsomal membrane has reached a certain extent, and that beyond this threshold lipid peroxidation leads to severe disintegration of the microsomal membrane resulting in a loss of its selective permeability, a damage which should be of pathological consequences for the liver cell. Because of its resistance against lipid peroxidation nucleoside diphosphatase is a well-suited intrinsic microsomal parameter to estimate this effect of lipid peroxidation on the microsomal membrane.     

Lipid peroxidation in purified plasma membrane fractions of rat liver in relation to the hepatoxicity of carbon tetrachloride

Preparations of rat liver sinusoidal plasma membrane have been tested for their ability to metabolize the hepatotoxin carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) to reactive free radicals in vitro and compared in this respect with standard preparations of rat liver microsomes. The sinusoidal plasma membranes were relatively free of endoplasmic reticulum-associated activities such as the enzymes of the cytochrome P450 system and glucose-6-phosphatase. CCl4 metabolism was measured as (i) covalent binding of [14C]-CCl4 to membrane protein, (ii) electron spin resonance spin-trapping of CCl3. radicals and (iii) CCl4-induced lipid peroxidation. By all of these tests, purified sinusoidal plasma membranes were found unable to metabolize CCl4. The fatty acid composition of the plasma membranes was almost identical to that of the microsomal preparation and both membrane fractions exhibited similar rates of the lipid peroxidation that was stimulated non-enzymically by gamma-radiation or incubation with ascorbate and iron. The absence of CCl4-induced lipid peroxidation in the plasma membranes seems to be due, therefore, to an absence of CCl4 activation rather than an inherent resistance to lipid peroxidation. We conclude that damage to the hepatocyte plasma membrane during CCl4 intoxication is not due to a significant local activation of CCl4 to CCl3. within that membrane.     

Modulation of the activity of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase by methylthioadenosine sulfoxide.

Methylthioadenosine sulfoxide (MTAS), an oxidized derivative of the cell toxic metabolite methylthioadenosine has been used in elucidating the relevance of an interrelationship between the catalytic behavior and the conformational state of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase and in characterizing the transmembrane orientation of the integral unit in the microsomal membrane. The following results were obtained: (1) Glucose 6-phosphate hydrolysis at 37 degrees C is progressively inhibited when native microsomes are treated with MTAS at 37 degrees C. In contrast, glucose 6-phosphate hydrolysis of the same MTAS-treated microsomes assayed at 0 degrees C is not inhibited. (2) Subsequent modification of the MTAS-treated microsomes with Triton X-114 reveals that glucose-6-phosphatase assayed at 37 degrees C as well as at 0 degrees C is inhibited. (3) Although excess reagent is separated by centrifugation and the MTAS-treated microsomes diluted with buffer before being modified with Triton the temperature-dependent effect of MTAS on microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase is not reversed at all. (4) In native microsomes MTAS is shown to inhibit glucose-6-phosphatase noncompetitively. The subsequent Triton-modification of the MTAS-treated microsomes, however, generates an uncompetitive type of inhibition. (5) Preincubation of native microsomes with MTAS completely prevents the inhibitory effect of 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene 2,2'-disulfonate (DIDS) as well as 4,4'-diazidostilbene 2,2'-disulfonate (DASS) on glucose-6-phosphatase. (6) Low molecular weight thiols and tocopherol protect the microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase against MTAS-induced inhibition. (7) Glucose-6-phosphatase solubilized and partially purified from rat liver microsomes is also affected by MTAS in demonstrating the same temperature-dependent behavior as the enzyme of MTAS-treated and Triton-modified microsomes. From these results we conclude that MTAS modulates the enzyme catalytic properties of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase by covalent modification of reactive groups of the integral protein accessible from the cytoplasmic surface of the microsomal membrane. The temperature-dependent kinetic behavior of MTAS-modulated glucose-6-phosphatase is interpreted by the existence of distinct catalytically active enzyme conformation forms. Detergent-induced modification of the adjacent hydrophobic microenvironment additionally generates alterations of the conformational state leading to changes of the kinetic characteristics of the integral enzyme.     

Effect of seminal plasma antioxidant on lipid peroxidation in spermatozoa, mitochondria and microsomes

Seminal plasma antioxidant inhibited ascorbate/iron-induced lipid peroxidation in spermatozoa, brain and liver mitochondria. The concentration required to produce inhibition in brain and liver mitochondria was high. Denaturation of spermatozoa resulted in complete loss of antioxidant action. Maintenance of native structure was essential for action of seminal plasma antioxidant in spermatozoal lipid peroxidation. The antioxidant inhibited NADPH, Fe3+-ADP induced lipid peroxidation in microsomes and consequences of lipid peroxidation such as glucose-6-phosphatase inactivation were prevented by presence of antioxidant. It did not inhibit microsomal lipid peroxidation induced by ascorbate and iron and xanthine-xanthine oxidase.     

The effect of the administration of cobaltic protoporphyrin IX on drug metabolism, carbon tetrachloride activation and lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomes

The effects of cobaltic protoporphyrin IX (CPP) administration on hepatic microsomal drug metabolism, carbon tetrachloride activation and lipid peroxidation have been investigated using male Wistar rats. CPP (125 mumol/kg, 72 h before sacrifice) profoundly decreased the levels of hepatic microsomal heme, particularly cytochrome P-450. Consequently, the associated mixed-function oxidase systems were equally strongly depressed. An unexpected finding was that CPP administration also greatly decreased the activity of NADPH/cytochrome c reductase, a result not generally found with the administration of the more widely used cytochrome P-450 depleting agents, cobaltous chloride. Activation of carbon tetrachloride, measured as covalent binding of [14C] CCl4, spin-trapping of CCl3 and CCl4-stimulated lipid peroxidation, was much lower in liver microsomes from CPP-treated rats. Other microsomal lipid peroxidation systems, utilising cumene hydroperoxide or NADPH/ADP-Fe2+, were also depressed in parallel with the decrease in microsomal enzyme activities.     

The role of lipid peroxidation in CCl4-induced damage to liver microsomal enzymes: comparative studies in vitro using microsomes and isolated liver cells

The question as to whether CCl4 decreases the activities of glucose-6-phosphatase and cytochrome P-450 in liver endoplasmic reticulum mainly through its action in stimulating lipid peroxidation has been investigated using Promethazine to block lipid peroxidation. The investigation, moreover, has compared the effects of CCl4, with and without Promethazine, on isolated rat hepatocytes with corresponding effects on rat liver microsomal suspensions. Our data give no support for the view that products of lipid peroxidation are the main cause of the decrease in cytochrome P-450 observed in CCl4-intoxication. However, our present results are consistent with lipid peroxidation being a major contributory factor to the decrease in glucose-6-phosphatase activity observed in CCl4-induced liver injury.     

The effect of 1-cyclohexyl-3-(2-morpholinoethyl)carbodiimide on the rat liver microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase system

The effect of 1-cyclohexyl-3-(2-morpholinoethyl)carbodiimide (CMC) on the reactions catalyzed by the glucose-6-phosphatase system of rat liver microsomes was studied. Modification of the intact microsomes by CMC leads to the inhibition of the glucose-6-phosphatase, pyrophosphate:glucose and carbamoyl-phosphate : glucose phosphotransferase activities of the system. The activities are restored by the disruption of the microsomal permeability barrier. The mannose-6-phosphate, pyrophosphate, and carbamoyl-phosphate phosphohydrolase activities of the intact as well as the disrupted microsomes were not affected by CMC. It follows from the results obtained that CMC inactivates the microsomal glucose-6-phosphate translocase, the inactivation is a result of the modification of a single sulfhydryl or amino group of the translocase; pyrophosphate, carbamoyl phosphate and inorganic phosphate are transported across the microsomal membrane without participation of the glucose-6-phosphate translocase; pyrophosphate and carbamoyl phosphate may act as the phosphate donors in the glucose phosphorylation reactions in vivo.     

Prevention of Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Lipid Peroxidation in Liver Microsomes from Dehydroepiandrosterone-Pretreated Rats

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a lipid soluble steroid, administered to rats (100 mg/kg b.wt) by a single intraperitoneal injection, increases to twice its normal level in the liver microsomes. Microsomes so enriched become resistant to lipid peroxidation induced by incubation with carbon tetrachloride in the presence of a NADPH-regenerating system: also the lipid peroxidation-dependent inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transpetidase due to the haloalkane are prevented. Noteworthy, the liver microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes and in particular the catalytic activity of cytochrome P₄₅₀IIE1, responsible for the CCl₄-activation, are not impaired by the supplementation with the steroid. Consistently, in DHEA-pretreated microsomes the protein covalent binding of the trichloromethyl radical (CCl₃°), is similar to that of not supplemented microsomes treated with CCl₄. It thus seems likely that DHEA protects liver microsomes from oxidative damage induced by carbon tetrachloride through its own antioxidant properties rather than inhibiting the metabolism of the toxin.     

Changes in the glucose-6-phosphatase complex in hepatomas

Hepatomas tend to have a decreased glucose-6-phosphatase activity. We have observed phenotypic stability for this change in Morris hepatomas transplanted in rats. To determine if this decrease is selective for translocase functions or the hydrolase activity associated with glucose-6-phosphatase, we have compared activities in liver and hepatomas with glucose-6-phosphate or mannose-6-phosphate as substrates and with intact or histone-disrupted microsomes. In five out of seven subcutaneously transplanted rat hepatoma lines, the microsomal mannose-6-phosphatase activity was lower than in preparations from liver of normal or tumor-bearing rats. With liver microsomes and with most hepatoma microsomes, preincubation with calf thymus histones caused a greater increase in mannose-6-phosphatase than in glucose-6-phosphatase activity. In studies with liver and hepatoma microsomes there were similar increases in mannose-6-phosphatase activity with total calf thymus histones and arginine-rich histones. A smaller increase was seen with lysine-rich histones. The effect of polylysine was similar to the action of lysine-rich histones. There was only a small effect with protamine at the same concentration (1 mg/ml). Rat liver or hepatoma H1 histones gave only about half the activation seen with core nucleosomal histones. Our data suggested that microsomes of rat hepatomas tend to have decreased translocase and hydrolase functions of glucose-6-phosphatase relative to activities in untransformed liver. (Mol Cell Biochem122: 17–24, 1993)     

Radiation inactivation analysis of rat liver microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase

Radiation inactivation analysis was utilized to estimate the sizes of the units catalyzing the various activities of hepatic microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase. This technique revealed that the target molecular weights for mannose-6-P phosphohydrolase, glucose-6-P phosphohydrolase, and carbamyl-P:glucose phosphotransferase activities were all about Mr 75,000. These results are consistent with the widely held view that all of these activities are catalyzed by the same protein or proteins. Certain observations indicate that the molecular organization of microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase is better described by the conformational hypothesis which envisions the enzyme as a single covalent structure rather than by the substrate transport model which requires the participation of several physically separate polypeptides. These include the findings: 1) that the target sizes for glucose-6-P phosphohydrolase and carbamyl-P:glucose phosphotransferase activities were not larger than that for mannose-6-P phosphohydrolase in intact microsomes and 2) that the target size for glucose-6-P phosphohydrolase in disrupted microsomes was not less than that observed in intact microsomes. These findings are most consistent with a model for glucose-6-phosphatase of a single polypeptide or a disulfide-linked dimer which spans the endoplasmic reticulum with the various activities of this multifunctional enzyme residing in distinct protein domains.     

The consequences of lipid peroxidation in isolated hepatocytes.

Lipid peroxidation was initiated by the addition of either ADP-complexed Fe3+ or cumene hydroperoxide to isolated rat hepatocytes and the resultant biochemical and morphological alterations investigated. As previously observed with microsomes, malonaldehyde formation was associated with the inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase. Inhibition of microsomal oxidative drug metabolism was correlated with the release and subsequent inactivation of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, whereas cytochrome P-450 destruction occurred only in the presence of high concentrations of the organic hydroperoxide which were associated with extensive malonaldehyde formation. Under these conditions there were also marked ultrastructural alterations in the hepatocytes which were not apparent after incubation in the presence of iron (less than or equal to 187 muM Fe3+). The latter treatment was, however, associated with moderate biochemical effects such as glucose-6-phosphatase inactivation and increased membrane permeability. The cellular defence system against lipid peroxidation is discussed and it is concluded that the isolated liver cell system provides a valuable tool for the study of lipid peroxidation and its pathological implications.     

Prevention of Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Lipid Peroxidation in Liver Microsomes from Dehydroepiandrosterone-Pretreated Rats

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a lipid soluble steroid, administered to rats (100 mg/kg b.wt) by a single intraperitoneal injection, increases to twice its normal level in the liver microsomes. Microsomes so enriched become resistant to lipid peroxidation induced by incubation with carbon tetrachloride in the presence of a NADPH-regenerating system: also the lipid peroxidation-dependent inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transpetidase due to the haloalkane are prevented. Noteworthy, the liver microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes and in particular the catalytic activity of cytochrome P₄₅₀IIE1, responsible for the CCl₄-activation, are not impaired by the supplementation with the steroid. Consistently, in DHEA-pretreated microsomes the protein covalent binding of the trichloromethyl radical (CCl₃°), is similar to that of not supplemented microsomes treated with CCl₄. It thus seems likely that DHEA protects liver microsomes from oxidative damage induced by carbon tetrachloride through its own antioxidant properties rather than inhibiting the metabolism of the toxin.     

Thermal stability of microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase

The thermal stability of glucose-6-phosphatase in rat liver microsomes was examined in untreated and cholate-treated microsomes. Activity of the enzyme was measured with both glucose-6-P and mannose-6-P as substrates. Heat treatment did not cause glucose-6-phosphatase activity to decline to zero with a single rate constant in untreated microsomes. Instead, heat treatment produced an enzyme with a small residual activity that was stable. The residual level of activity was not stimulated by addition of detergent. In untreated microsomes the energies of activation for the processes of decay were different for glucose-6-phosphatase and mannose-6-phosphatase activities, suggesting that the rate-limiting steps for the hydrolysis of these compounds were different. Treatment of microsomes with detergent increased the rate constants for the thermal decay of glucose-6-phosphatase by about 150 times, and, in contrast to untreated microsomes, glucose-6-phosphatase and mannose-6-phosphatase decayed to zero with a single rate constant in cholate-treated microsomes. Also, rate constants for thermal inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase and mannose-6-phosphatase were the same in cholate-treated microsomes. Removal of cholate increased the stability of glucose-6-phosphatase but did not regenerate the form of the enzyme present in untreated microsomes. The data for the stability of glucose-6-phosphatase under different conditions provide evidence that the enzyme can exist in at least five different stable states that are enzymatically active.     

Administration of the tris salt of alpha-tocopheryl hemisuccinate inactivates CYP2E1, enhances microsomal alpha-tocopherol levels and protects against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity

A series of tocopherol compounds were examined for their capacity to protect against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Of the tocopherol compounds tested in our study, only the tris salt of d-alpha-tocopheryl hemisuccinate (TS-tris) protected against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity. The administration of d-alpha-tocopherol (alpha-T) and the nonhydrolyzable tocopherol ether, d-alpha-tocopheryloxybutyrate tris salt (TSE-tris), failed to protect against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity. TS-tris was the only tocopherol which significantly decreased CYP2E1 activity after 18 h. This decrease in CYP2E1 activity is likely to limit the activation of CCl4 and protect against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity. Our results also suggest that TS-tris protection against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity correlates with the enhanced capacity of TS-tris to deliver alpha-T and increase the antioxidant status of hepatocytes. TSE-tris did not increase cellular alpha-T levels, while administration of TS-tris produced large increases in alpha-T levels in liver homogenates as well as in liver nuclei, microsomes, mitochondria and plasma membranes. This enhanced ability to deliver tocopherol equivalents to parenchymal liver cells may be related in part to the ability of TS-tris to form liposomes in aqueous solutions. TS-tris administration protected against CCl4-induced microsomal lipid peroxide formation and inactivation of the microsomal enzyme glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase). Supplementation of animals with alpha-T protected against microsomal lipid peroxide formation but not against the inactivation of G6Pase. Based on our findings, we propose that high cellular levels of alpha-T protect against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity by scavenging CCl4 radicals as well as protecting against lipid peroxidation. Our results do not support the importance of microsomal lipid peroxidation as an early event in acute CCl4-induced hepatic necrosis.     

Reduced glutathione protection against rat liver microsomal injury by carbon tetrachloride. Dependence on O2.

Rat liver microsomal membranes contain a reduced-glutathione-dependent protein(s) that inhibits lipid peroxidation in the ascorbate/iron microsomal lipid peroxidation system. It appears to exert its protective effect by scavenging free radicals. The present work was carried out to assess the effect of this reduced-glutathione-dependent mechanism on carbon tetrachloride-induced microsomal injury and on carbon tetrachloride metabolism because they are known to involve free radicals. Rat liver microsomes were incubated at 37 degrees C with NADPH, EDTA and carbon tetrachloride. The addition of 1 mM-reduced glutathione (GSH) markedly inhibited lipid peroxidation and glucose 6-phosphatase inactivation and, to a lesser extent, inhibited cytochrome P-450 destruction. GSH also inhibited covalent binding of [14C]carbon tetrachloride-derived 14C to microsomal protein. These results indicate that a GSH-dependent mechanism functions to protect the microsomal membrane against free-radical injury in the carbon tetrachloride system as well as in the iron-based systems. Under anaerobic conditions, GSH had no effect on chloroform formation, carbon tetrachloride-induced destruction of cytochrome P-450 or covalent binding of [14C]carbon tetrachloride-derived 14C to microsomal protein. Thus, the GSH protective mechanism appears to be O2-dependent. This suggests that it may be specific for O2-based free radicals. This O2-dependent GSH protective mechanism may partly underlie the observed protection of hyperbaric O2 against carbon tetrachloride-induced lipid peroxidation and hepatotoxicity.     

Comparison of the Inactivation of Microsomal Glucose-6-Phosphatase by in Situ Lipid Peroxidation-Derived 4-Hydroxynonenal and Exogenous 4-Hydroxynonenal

1) The effect of 4-hydroxynonenal and lipid peroxidation on the activities of glucose-6-phosphatase and palmitoyl CoA hydrolase were studied.

2) 4-Hydroxynonenal inactivates glucose-6-phosphatase but has no effect on palmitoyl-CoA hydrolase. These effects are similar with those observed during lipid peroxidation of microsomes.

3) The inhibition of glucose-6-phosphatase by 4-hydroxynonenal can be prevented by glutathione but not by vitamin E. The inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase during lipid peroxidation is prevented by glutathione and delayed by vitamin E.

4) The formation of 4-hydroxynonenal during lipid peroxidation was followed in relation to the inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase. At 50% inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase the 4-hydroxynonenal concentration was 1.5μM. To obtain 50% inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase by added 4-hydroxynonenal a concentration of 150μM or 300μM was needed with a preincubation time of 30 and 60 min, respectively.

5) It is concluded that the glucose-6-phosphatase inactivation during lipid peroxidation can be due to the formation of 4-hydroxynbnenal. The formed 4-hydroxynonenal which inactivates glucose-6-phosphatase is located in the membrane. If this mechanism is valid it implies that a functional SH group of glucose-6-phosphatase is layered in the membrane. However, an inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase by desintegration of the membrane by lipid peroxidation cannot be ruled out.     

Microsomal membrane permeability and the hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase system. Interactions of the system with D-mannose 6-phosphate and D-mannose.

We have proposed that glucose-6-phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.9) is a two-component system consisting of (a) a glucose-6-P-specific transporter which mediates the movement of the hexose phosphate from the cytosol to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (or cisternae of the isolated microsomal vesicle), and (b) a nonspecific phosphohydrolase-phosphotransferase localized on the luminal surface of the membrane (Arion, W.J., Wallin, B.K., Lange, A.J., and Ballas, L.M. (1975) Mol. Cell. Biochem. 6, 75-83). Additional support for this model has been obtained by studying the interactions of D-mannose-6-P and D-mannose with the enzyme of untreated (i.e. intact) and taurocholate-disrupted microsomes. An exact correspondence was shown between the mannose-6-P phosphohydrolase activity at low substrate concentrations and the permeability of the microsomal membrane to EDTA. The state of intactness of the membrane influenced the kinetics of mannose inhibition of glucose-6-P hydrolysis; uncompetitive and noncompetitive inhibitions were observed for intact and disrupted microsomes, respectively. The apparent Km for glucose-6-P was smaller with intact preparations at mannose concentrations above 0.3 M. Mannose significantly inhibited total glucose-6-P utilization by intact microsomes, whereas D-glucose had a stimulatory effect. Both hexoses markedly enhanced the rate of glucose-6-P utilization by disrupted microsomes. The actions of mannose on the glucose-6-phosphatase of intact microsomes fully support the postulated transport model. They are predictable consequences of the synthesis and accumulation of mannose-6-P in the cisternae of microsomal vesicles which possess a nonspecific, multifunctional enzyme on the inner surface and a limiting membrane permeable to D-glucose, D-mannose, glucose-6-P, but impermeable to mannose-6-P. The latency of the mannose-6-P phosphohydrolase activity is proposed as a reliable, quantitative index of microsomal membrane integrity. The inherent limitations of the use of EDTA permeability for this purpose are discussed.     

Study of lipid dependence of glucose-6-phosphatase from rat liver and hepatoma using lipid exchange proteins]

In order to study the lipid dependence of glucose-6-phosphatase the lipid composition of microsomes from rat liver and hepatoma was modified using lipid exchange proteins. It was shown that the enzyme activity depends on the presence of phosphatidyl ethanolamine and phosphatidyl serine, but is unaffected by the enrichment of the microsomes with phosphatidyl choline. On the basis of the data obtained it was assumed that the aminophospholipids are required for the functioning of the protein carrier; however, they do not affect the activity of the catalytic component of the glucose-6-phosphatase system on the inner surface of the microsomal membrane.     

Interaction of mannose-6-phosphate with the hysteretic transition in glucose-6-phosphate hydrolysis in intact liver microsomes.

We showed previously that glucose-6-phosphatase activity was characterised in intact liver microsomes by a hysteretic transition between a rapid and a slower catalytic form of the enzyme. We have now further investigated the substrate specificity of these two kinetic forms. It was found that the pre-incubation of intact microsomes with mannose-6-phosphate or glucose-6-phosphate (50 microM for 30 s) suppressed the burst in glucose-6-phosphatase activity, that the hysteretic transition was reversible and that mannose-6-phosphate inhibited glucose-6-phosphate hydrolysis during the first seconds of incubation, but not anymore after the burst. Our results indicate (i) that mannose-6-phosphate is recognised by the enzyme and can promote the hysteretic transition and (ii) that the transient phase is part of the catalytic mechanism itself.     

Lipid peroxidation inactivates rat liver microsomal glycerol-3-phosphate acyl transferase. Effect of iron and copper salts and carbon tetrachloride

Lipid peroxidation is known to affect the activity of several enzymes including microsomal enzymes such as glucose-6-phosphatase; but its effect on the enzymes of lipid biosynthesis has not been investigated. Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) represents the first committed step and probably the rate limiting step in glycerolipid synthesis and thus may be a good candidate for study. Rat liver microsomal GPAT was assayed after preincubating the microsomes under conditions known to induce peroxidation. In 30 min, 10 microM Fe2+ can diminish the activity by as much as 80%. The inactivating effect can be blocked to different extents by several antioxidants, while ascorbic acid enhances it. These effects, along with the concomitant measurement of lipid peroxidation, indicate that microsomal GPAT activity is inactivated by lipid peroxidation in a sensitive and rapid fashion. This is further confirmed by the inactivating effect of carbon tetrachloride, which is known to induce lipid peroxidation in microsomes. Fe3+ also inactivates the enzyme, but at a higher concentration. Copper salts inactivate GPAT by a mechanism apparently different from that of iron. The mechanism might involve a direct sulfhydryl modification by copper and lipid peroxidation apparently different from that induced by iron. It is suggested that the inactivation of GPAT by lipid peroxidation could accelerate the process of membrane disintegration caused by lipid peroxidation in pathological conditions involving free radical-mediated tissue injury.