Resolution of rat mitochondrial matrix proteins by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

The mitochondrial matrix subfractions from rat liver, kidney cortex, brain, heart, and skeletal muscle were isolated and their protein components were resolved by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, revealing between 120 and 150 components for each matrix subfraction. Excellent resolution was obtained utilizing a pH 5 to 8 gradient in the first dimension and in 8 to 13% exponential acrylamide gradient in the second dimension, increasing the number of mitochondrial matrix proteins observed 3-fold over one-dimensional systems. Protein components tentatively identified by co-migration with pure enzymes and by known tissue distributions are carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase (EC 2.7.2.5), ornithine transcarbamylase (EC 2.1.3.3), glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3), pyruvate carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.1), citrate synthase (EC 4.1.3.7), fumarase (EC 4.2.1.2), aconitase (EC 4.2.1.3), alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.2), dihydrolipoyl transsuccinylase (EC 2.3.1.12), lipoamide dehydrogenase (EC 1.6.4.3), glutamate-aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.1), and the two subunits of pyruvate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.1). Protein components unambiguously identified by peptide mapping are citrate synthase, aconitase, and pyruvate carboxylase. The inner membrane subfraction from rat liver mitochondria was also resolved two dimensionally; the alpha and beta subunits of ATPase (F1) (EC 3.6.1.3) were identified by peptide mapping.     

X-ray small-angle studies of the pyruvate dehydrogenase core complex from Escherichia coli K-12

The pyruvate dehydrogenase core complex from E. coli K-12, defined as the multienzyme complex which can be obtained with a unique polypeptide chain composition, has been investigated in solution with the X-ray small-angle technique. The molecular mass of the core complex of 3.78·10⁶ daltons verifies the ratio of polypeptide chains of 161616 of the three enzyme components, pyruvate dehydrogenase, dihydrolipoamide transacetylase, and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase, present in the complex. In connection with the values obtained for the radius of gyration (156.5 å), volume (1.07·10⁷ å³) and amount of solvent associated with the complex (1.03 g/g) a loose packing of subunits in the complex has to be assumed. The maximum diameter of the core complex of 433 å, as determined from the correlation function, corroborates the large extension of the complex. The comparison of experimental and theoretical scattering curves reveals a relatively isometric overall shape of the core complex.Enzymes: Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex = pyruvate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.1) plus dihydrolipoamide transacetylase (EC 2.3.1.12) plus dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (EC 1.6.4.3).     

Immunological comparison of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes from pea mitochondria and chloroplasts

The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) in pea (Pisum sativum L., cv. Little Marvel) was studied immunologically using antibodies to specific subunits of mammalian PDC. Pea mitochondria and chloroplasts were both found to contain PDC, but distinct differences were noted in the subunit relative molecular mass (M_r) values of the individual enzymes in the mitochondrial and chloroplast PDC complexes. In particular, the mitochondrial E3 enzyme (dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase; EC 1.8.1.4) has a high subunit M_r value of 67 000, while the chloroplast E3 enzyme has a subunit M_r value of 52 000, similar in size to the prokaryotic, yeast ad mammalian E3 enzymes. In addition, component X (not previously noted in plant PDC) was also found to be present in two distinct forms in pea mitochondrial and chloroplast complexes. As in the case of E3, mitochondrial component X has a higher subunit M_r value (67 000) than component X from chloroplasts (48 000), which is similar in size to its mammalian counterpart. The subunit M_r value of E2 (dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase; EC 2.3.1.12) in both mitochondria and chloroplasts (50 000) is lower than that of mammalian E2 (74 000) but similar to that of yeast E2 (58 000), and is consistent with the presence of only a single lipoyl domain. Neither mitochondria nor chloroplasts showed any appreciable cross-reactivity with antiserum to mammalian E1 (pyruvate dehydrogenase; EC 1.2.4.1). However, mitochondria cross-reacted strongly with antiserum to yeast E1, giving a single band (M_r 41 000) which is thought to be E1_a. Chloroplasts showed no cross-reactivity with yeast E1, indicating that the mitochondrial E1_a subunit and its chloroplast equivalent are antigenically distinct polypeptides.Abbreviations E1 pyruvate dehydrogenase - E2 dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase - E3 dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase - M_r relative molecular mass - PDC pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex - SDS sodium dodecyl sulphate The financial support of the Agricultural and Food Research Council is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Steve Hill (Department of Botany, University of Edinburgh, UK) for advice on mitochondrial isolation, and James Neagle (Department of Biochemistry, University of Glasgow) and Ailsa Carmichael for helpful discussion.     

Purification of bovine kidney and heart pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase on Sepharose derivatized with the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex

Pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase has been purified to apparent homogeneity from mitochondrial extracts of both beef heart and beef kidney. An essential step in this three-step purification is affinity chromatography of a largely purified phosphatase fraction using Sepharose beads to which pyruvate dehydrogenase complex is covalently bound through the lipoic acid residues of the dihydrolipoyl transacetylase component of the complex. The purified phosphatase, which has a native relative molecular mass, Mr, of about 140000, is composed of two nonidentical subunits of Mr 89000 and 49000.     

Thermodynamic analysis of the binding of component enzymes in the assembly of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex of Bacillus stearothermophilus

The peripheral subunit-binding domain (PSBD) of the dihydrolipoyl acetyltransferase (E2, EC 2.3.1.12) binds tightly but mutually exclusively to dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (E3, EC 1.8.1.4) and pyruvate decarboxylase (E1, EC 1.2.4.1) in the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex of Bacillus stearothermophilus. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) experiments demonstrated that the enthalpies of binding (DeltaH degrees ) of both E3 and E1 with the PSBD varied with salt concentration, temperature, pH, and buffer composition. There is little significant difference in the free energies of binding (DeltaG degrees = -12.6 kcal/mol for E3 and = -12.9 kcal/mol for E1 at pH 7.4 and 25 degrees C). However, the association with E3 was characterized by a small, unfavorable enthalpy change (DeltaH degrees = +2.2 kcal/mol) and a large, positive entropy change (TDeltaS degrees = +14.8 kcal/mol), whereas that with E1 was accompanied by a favorable enthalpy change (DeltaH degrees = -8.4 kcal/mol) and a less positive entropy change (TDeltaS degrees = +4.5 kcal/mol). Values of DeltaC(p) of -316 cal/molK and -470 cal/molK were obtained for the binding of E3 and E1, respectively. The value for E3 was not compatible with the DeltaC(p) calculated from the nonpolar surface area buried in the crystal structure of the E3-PSBD complex. In this instance, a large negative DeltaC(p) is not indicative of a classical hydrophobic interaction. In differential scanning calorimetry experiments, the midpoint melting temperature (T(m)) of E3 increased from 91 degrees C to 97.1 degrees C when it was bound to PSBD, and that of E1 increased from 65.2 degrees C to 70.0 degrees C. These high T(m) values eliminate unfolding as a major source of the anomalous DeltaC(p) effects at the temperatures (10-37 degrees C) used for the ITC experiments.     

Relationship Between Activation State of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex and Rate of Pyruvate Oxidation in Isolated Cerebro-Cortical Mitochondria: Effects of Potassium Ions and Adenine Nucleotides

The relation between the activation (phosphorylation) state of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC; EC 1.2.4.1, EC 2.3.1.12, and EC 1.6.4.3) and the rate of pyruvate oxidation has been examined in isolated, metabolically active, and tightly coupled mitochondria from rat cerebral cortex. With pyruvate and malate as the substrates, the activation state of PDHC decreased on addition of ADP, while the rates of oxygen uptake and 14CO2 formation from [1-14C]pyruvate increased. The lack of correlation between the activation state of PDHC and rate of pyruvate oxidation was seen in media containing 5, 30, or 100 mM KCl. Both the activation state of PDHC and pyruvate oxidation increased, however, when KCl was increased from 5 to 100 mM. Although the PDHC is inactivated by an ATP-dependent kinase (EC 2.7.1.99), direct measurement of ATP and ADP failed to show a consistent relationship between the activation state of PDHC and either ATP levels or ATP/ADP ratios. Comparison of the activation state of PDHC in uncoupled or oligomycin-treated mitochondria also failed to correlate PDHC activation state to adenine nucleotides. In brain mitochondria, unlike those from other tissues, the activation state of PDHC does not seem to be related clearly to the rate of pyruvate oxidation, or to the mitochondrial adenylate energy charge.     

Characterization of an Escherichia coli K12 mutant that is sensitive to chlorate when grown aerobically.

1. The ;initial activity' of the pyruvate dehydrogenase enzyme complex in whole tissue or mitochondrial extracts of lactating rat mammary glands was greatly decreased by 24 or 48h starvation of the rats. Injection of insulin and glucose into starved rats 60min before removal of the glands abolished this difference in ;initial activities'. 2. The ;total activity' of the enzyme complex in such extracts was revealed by incubation in the presence of free Mg(2+) and Ca(2+) ions (more than 10 and 0.1mm respectively) and a crude preparation of pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase. Starvation did not alter this ;total activity'. It is assumed that the decline in ;initial activity' of the enzyme complex derived from the glands of starved animals was due to increased phosphorylation of its alpha-subunit by intrinsic pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase. 3. Starvation led to an increase in intrinsic pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity in both whole tissue and mitochondrial extracts. Injection of insulin into starved animals 30min before removal of the lactating mammary glands abolished the increase in pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity in whole-tissue extracts. 4. Pyruvate (1mm) prevented ATP-induced inactivation of the enzyme complex in mitochondrial extracts from glands of fed animals. In similar extracts from starved animals pyruvate was ineffective. 5. Starvation led to a decline in activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase in mitochondrial extracts, but not in whole-tissue extracts. 6. These changes in activity of the intrinsic kinase and phosphatase of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex of lactating rat mammary gland are not explicable by current theories of regulation of the complex.     

Structure and symmetry of B. stearothermophilus pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex and implications for eucaryote evolution.

The pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex was purified from B. stearothermophilus. The enzyme was found to be of high molecular weight (s_20,w⁰ = 75S) and to contain four different types of polypeptide chain, with subunit molecular weights estimated as 57,000, 54,000, 42,000 and 36,000, respectively. The subunit of molecular weight 57,000 was shown to derive from the lipoate acetyltransferase component (EC 2.3.1.12), whereas the subunit of molecular weight 54,000 was identified as lipoamide dehydrogenase (EC 1.6.4.3). The other two polypeptide chains are likely to be the subunits of pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 1.2.4.1). The purified lipoate acetyltransferase component was also of high molecular weight (s_20,w⁰ = 35S), and both it and the intact enzyme complex were readily visualized in negatively-stained preparations in the electron microscope. The lipoate acetyltransferase component, in particular, clearly showed the 5 fold, 3 fold and 2 fold rotation axes of a regular pentagonal dodecahedron with a diameter of 23 nm. The symmetry of the enzyme complex is apparently icosahedral. In all these properties the enzyme from B. stearothermophilus (Gram-positive) strikingly resembles the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from the mitochondria of eucaryotic cells, and stands in marked contrast to the enzyme from E. coli (Gram-negative). A growing body of evidence indicates that the quaternary structures of enzymes from Gram-positive bacteria and the mitochondria of eucaryotes share distinctive common features that set them apart from the corresponding enzymes from Gram-negative bacteria. Adopting the serial endosymbiosis theory for the evolution of the mitochondrion, it follows that the forerunner of mitochondria may have been a Gram-positive rather than a Gram-negative bacterium.     

Correlation of enzymatic,metabolic, and behavioral deficits in thiamin deficiency and its reversal

To clarify the enzymatic mechanisms of brain damage inthiamin deficiency, glucose oxidation, acetylcholine synthesis, and the activities of the three major thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP) dependent brain enzymes were compared in untreated controls, in symptomatic pyrithiamin-induced thiamin-deficient rats, and in animals in which the symptoms had been reversed by treatment with thiamin. Although brain slices from symptomatic animals produced¹⁴CO₂ and¹⁴C-acetylcholine from [U-¹⁴C]glucose at rates similar to controls under resting conditions, their K⁺-induced-increase declined by 50 and 75%, respectively. In brain homogenates from these same animals, the activities of two TPP-dependent enzymes transketolase (EC 2.2.1.1) and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (EC 1.2.4.2, EC 2.3.1.61, EC 1.6.4.3) decreased 60–65% and 36%, respectively. The activity of the third TPP-dependent enzyme, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (EC 1.2.4.1, EC 2.3.1.12, EC 1.6.4.3.) did not change nor did the activity of its activator pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.43). Although treatment with thiamin for seven days reversed the neurological symptoms and restored glucose oxidation, acetylcholine synthesis and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase activity to normal, transketolase activity remained 30–32% lower than controls. The activities of other TPP-independent enzymes (hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, and glutamate dehydrogenase) were normal in both deficient and reversed animals.Thus, changes in the neurological signs during pyrithiamin-induced thiamin deficiency and in recovery paralleled the reversible damage to a mitochondrial enzyme and impairment of glucose oxidation and acetylcholine synthesis. A more sustained deficit in the pentose pathway enzyme, transketolase, may relate to the anatomical abnormalities that accompany thiamin deficiency.Dedicated to Henry McIlwain.     

Properties and Regional Distribution of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase in Rat Brain

A method is described to measure directly in rat brain the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDHa kinase; EC 2.7.1.99), which catalyzes the inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC, EC 1.2.4.1, EC 2.3.1.12, and EC 1.6.4.3). The activity showed the expected dependence on added ATP and divalent cation, and the expected inhibition by dichloroacetate, pyruvate, and thiamin pyrophosphate. These results, and the properties of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.43), indicate that the mechanisms of control of phosphorylation of PDHC seem qualitatively similar in brain to those in other tissues. Regionally, PDHa kinase is more active in cerebral cortex and hippocampus, and less active in hypothalamus, pons and medulla, and olfactory bulbs. Indeed, the PDHa kinase activity in olfactory bulbs is uniquely low, and is more sensitive to inhibition by pyruvate and dichloroacetate than that in the cerebral cortex. Thus, there are significant quantitative differences in the enzymatic apparatus for controlling PDHC activity in different parts of the brain.     

Substrate-induced structural changes of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex

The time course of the overall reaction catalyzed by the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex produces an unexpectedly high lag (tau = 8 S) even in the presence of saturating concentrations of its substrates. The preincubation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex with one of the substrates alone decreases the duration of this lag, and all the substrates of the pyruvate dehydrogenase component (E1) and dihydrolipoyl transacetylase component (E2) together (pyruvate, thiamine pyrophosphate, and CoA) result in the complete disappearance of the lag. The reduction of the dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase component (E3) of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex with the substrates of the complex in the absence of NAD+ produces significantly different quenching in the FAD fluorescence, and then the reduction with the substrates of E3 as dihydrolipoic acid and dithioerythritol. (The formation of FADH2 was not observed in the system.) The higher fluorescence quenching in the presence of substrates of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex compared to the effect caused by the substrates of the E3 component (dihydrolipoic acid and DTE) indicates conformational changes additionally manifested in the fluorescence properties of the enzyme complex. The substrate-induced quenching of the enzyme-bound FAD fluorescence shows biphasic kinetics. The rate constant of the slow phase is comparable with the rate constant calculated from the time duration of the lag phase observed in the overall reaction. The kinetic analysis of both intensity and anisotropy decrease of the FAD fluorescence suggests a consecutive transmittance of an all substrate-coordinated, induced conformational changes directed from the pyruvate dehydrogenase-via the lipoyl transacetylase--to the lipoyl dehydrogenase. Two simultaneous conformational effects caused by binding of the substrates can be distinguished; one of them results the fluorescence of the bound FAD to be more quenched, while the other makes the FAD more mobile. The first-order rate constants of both these conformational changes were determined. The present observations suggest that the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex exists in a partially inactive state in the absence of its substrates, and it becomes active due to conformational changes caused by the binding of its substrates.     

Ferredoxin requirement for electron transport from the carbon monoxide dehydrogenase complex to a membrane-bound hydrogenase in acetate-grown Methanosarcina thermophila

Cell extracts from acetate-grown Methanosarcina thermophila contained CO-oxidizing:H2-evolving activity 16-fold greater than extracts from methanol-grown cells. Following fractionation of cell extracts into soluble and membrane components, CO-dependent H2 evolution and CO-dependent methyl-coenzyme M methylreductase activities were only present in the soluble fraction, but addition of the membrane fraction enhanced both activities. A b-type cytochrome(s), present in the membrane fraction, was linked to a membrane-bound hydrogenase. CO-oxidizing:H2-evolving activity was reconstituted with: (i) CO dehydrogenase complex, (ii) a ferredoxin, and (iii) purified membranes with associated hydrogenase. The ferredoxin was a direct electron acceptor for the CO dehydrogenase complex. The ferredoxin also coupled CO oxidation by CO dehydrogenase complex to metronidazole reduction.     

The effect of 2-oxoglutarate or 3-hydroxybutyrate on pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in isolated cerebro-cortical mitochondria

The oxidation of pyruvate is mediated by the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC; EC 1.2.4.1, EC 2.3.1.12 and EC 1.6.4.3) whose catalytic activity is influenced by phosphorylation and by product inhibition. 2-Oxoglutarate and 3-hydroxybutyrate are readily utilized by brain mitochondria and inhibit pyruvate oxidation. To further elucidate the regulatory behavior of brain PDHC, the effects of 2-oxoglutarate and 3-hydroxyburyrate on the flux of PDHC (as determined by [1-¹⁴C]pyruvate decarboxylation) and the activation (phosphorylation) state of PDHC were determined in isolated, non-synaptic cerebro-cortical mitochondria in the presence or absence of added adenine nucleotides (ADP or ATP). [1-¹⁴C]Pyruvate decarboxylation by these mitochondria is consistently depressed by either 3-hydroxybutyrate or 2-oxoglutarate in the presence of ADP when mitochondrial respiration is stimulated. In the presence of exogenous ADP, 3-hydroxybutyrate inhibits pyruvate oxidation mainly through the phosphorylation of PDHC, since the reduction of the PDHC flux parallels the depression of PDHC activation state under these conditions. On the other hand, in addition to the phosphorylation of PDHC, 2-oxoglutarate may also regulate pyruvate oxidation by product inhibition of PDHC in the presence of 0.5 mM pyruvate plus ADP or 5 mM pyruvate alone. This conclusion is based upon the observation that 2-oxoglutarate inhibits [1-¹⁴C]pyruvate decarboxylation to a much greater extent than that predicted from the PDHC activation state (i.e. catalytic capacity) alone. In conjunction with the results from our previous study (Lai, J. C. K. and Sheu, K.-F. R. (1985) J. Neurochem. 45, 1861–1868), the data of the present study are consistent with the notion that the relative importance of the various mechanisms that regulate brain and peripheral tissue PDHCs shows interesting differences.     

Preparation and properties of mitochondria derived from synaptosomes.

A method has been developed whereby a fraction of rat brain mitochondria (synaptic mitochondria) was isolated from synaptosomes. This brain mitochondrial fraction was compared with the fraction of "free" brain mitochondria (non-synaptic) isolated by the method of Clark & Nicklas (1970). (J. Biol. Chem. 245, 4724-4731). Both mitochondrial fractions are shown to be relatively pure, metabolically active and well coupled. 2. The oxidation of a number of substrates by synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria was studied and compared. Of the substrates studied, pyruvate plus malate was oxidized most rapidly by both mitochondrial populations. However, the non-synaptic mitochondria oxidized glutamate plus malate almost twice as rapidly as the synaptic mitochondria. 3. The activities of certain tricarboxylic acid-cycle and related enzymes in synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria were determined. Citrate synthase (EC 4.1.3.7), isocitrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.41) and malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37) activities were similar in both fractions, but pyruvate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.1) activity in non-synaptic mitochondria was higher than in synaptic mitochondria and glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3) activity in non-synaptic mitochondria was lower than that in synaptic mitochondria. 4. Comparison of synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria by rate-zonal separation confirmed the distinct identity of the two mitochondrial populations. The non-synaptic mitochondria had higher buoyant density and evidence was obtained to suggest that the synaptic mitochondria might be heterogeneous. 5. The results are also discussed in the light of the suggested connection between the heterogeneity of brain mitochondria and metabolic compartmentation.     

Pyruvate degradation via pyruvate formate-lyase (EC 2.3.1.54) and the enzymes of formate fermentation in the green alga Chlorogonium elongatum

Formate was formed in extracts of Chlorogonium elongatum via direct cleavage of pyruvate by a pyruvate formate-lyase (PFL, EC 2.3.1.54). The conversion of PFL to the catalytically active form required S-adenosylmethionine, ferric (2+), photoreduced deazariboflavin as reductant, pyruvate as allosteric effector and strict anaerobic conditions. At the optimum pH (pH 8.0), PFL catalyzed formate formation, pyruvate synthesis and the isotope exchange from [¹⁴C]formate into pyruvate with rates of 30.0, 1.5 and 1.2 nmol min^-1 mg^-1 protein, respectively. Treatment of the active enzyme with O₂ irreversibly inactivated PFL activity (half-time 2 min). In addition to PFL, the activities of phosphotransacetylase (EC 2.3.1.8), acetate kinase (EC 2.7.2.1), aldehyde dehydrogenase (CoA acetylating, EC 1.2.1.10) and alcohol dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.1) were also detected in extracts of C. elongatum. The occurrence of these enzymes indicates pyruvate degradation via a formate-fermentation pathway during anaerobiosis of algal cells in the dark.Abbreviations DTT dithiothreitol - Hepes 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine+ethane sulfonic acid - PFL pyruvate formate-lyase     

Regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activity in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells by Ca2+ and pyruvate

The dependence of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) activity on [Ca2+] was determined in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells at different pyruvate concentrations. The resulting family of curves had the following characteristics: a) bell-shaped appearance of all curves with maximum activity at 600 nM Ca2+; b) unchanged position of maxima with changes in pyruvate concentration; c) nonmonotonous changes in PDC activity with increasing pyruvate concentration at fixed [Ca2+]. Feasible mechanisms involving Ca2+-dependent phosphatase and kinase which are consistent with the experimental findings are discussed. To determine the steps in the chain of PDC reactions which determine the observed phenomena, a mathematical model is suggested which is based on the known data on the structural--functional relationships between the complex components--pyruvate dehydrogenase (E1), dihydrolipoyl acetyl transferase (E2), dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (E3), protein X, kinase, and phosphatase. To adequately describe the non-trivial dependence of PDC activity on [Ca2+] at different pyruvate concentrations, it was also necessary to consider the interdependence of some steps in the general chain of PDC reactions. Phenomenon (a) is shown to be due only to the involvement of protein X in the PDC reactions, phenomenon (b) to be due to changes in the activity of kinase, and phenomenon (c) to be due to dependence of acetylation and transacetylation rates on pyruvate concentration.     

The role of enzymes of pyruvate and citrate metabolism in control of gluconeogenesis in oocytes and embryos of the loach,Misgurnus fossilis L.

Summary Cessation of gluconeogenesis during oocyte maturation inMisgurnus fossilis L. is accompanied by an increase of pyruvate dehydrogenase activity (EC 1.2.4.1). The activity of other enzymes of citrate and pyruvate metabolism (citrate synthetase, EC 4.1.3.7, pyruvate carboxylase, EC 6.4.1.1., malate dehydrogenase, EC 1.1.1.37) remains constant during oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis.In the course of oocyte maturation the levels of acetyl-CoA, pyruvate and citrate remained unchanged, but the level of malate and oxaloacetate underwent drastic increase. The level of phosphoenolpyruvate increased about two-fold. The mitochondrial (NAD⁺)/(NADH) ratio was calculated by measurement of intermediates of the glutamate dehydrogenase reaction and it was found to increase six-fold during oocyte maturation. The lower mitochondrial (NAD⁺)/(NADH) ratio in oocytes compared to that in the embryos is likely to be responsible for the transfer of reducing equivalents from mitochondria to cytoplasm, while in embryos transfer in the opposite direction takes place.     

Investigation of the effects of sulfonylurea exposure on pancreatic beta cell metabolism

Prolonged exposure of pancreatic beta cells to the sulfonylureas glibencamide and tolbutamide induces subsequent desensitization to the actions of these drugs. The precise mechanisms underlying this desensitization remain unknown, prompting the present study, which investigated the impact of prolonged sulfonylurea exposure on glucose and energy metabolism using clonal pancreatic BRIN-BD11 beta cells. Following prolonged exposure to tolbutamide, BRIN-BD11 beta cells were incubated in the presence of [U-(13)C]glucose, and isotopomer analysis revealed that there was a change in the ratio of flux through pyruvate carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.1) and pyruvate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.1, EC 2.3.1.12, EC 1.8.1.4). Energy status in intact BRIN-BD11 cells was determined using (31)P-NMR spectroscopy. Exposure to tolbutamide did not alter the nucleotide triphosphate levels. Collectively, data from the present study demonstrate that prolonged exposure of beta cells to tolbutamide results in changes in flux through key enzymes involved in glucose metabolism that, in turn, may impact on glucose-induced insulin secretion.     

Crystallization of a dihydrolipoyl transacetylase--dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase subcomplex and its implications regarding the subunit structure of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from Escherichia coli.

A subcomplex consisting of dihydrolipoyl transacetylase and dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase, two of the three enzymes comprising the Escherichia coli pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, has been crystallized. X-ray diffraction data establish that the space group is P2₁3 with unit cell dimension $\text{a=211 .5}\text{A}\text{?}$. The unit cell contains four molecules of the subcomplex, each possessing 3-fold crystallographic and molecular symmetry. This finding, together with biochemical and electron microscopic data reported elsewhere, establish unequivocally that dihydrolipoyl transacetylase, the core enzyme of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, consists of 24 identical subunits with octahedral (432) symmetry. In the case presented here, the 432 symmetry of the transacetylase is reduced to 3-fold symmetry in the subcomplex by the addition of dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase subunits. Crystal density measurements indicate that the dihydrolipoyl transacetylase present in these crystals is considerably smaller than the core mass generally reported for intact transacetylase. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the subunit stoichiometry and structure of the E. coli pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.     

EPR properties of the Ni-Fe-C center in an enzyme complex with carbon monoxide dehydrogenase activity from acetate-grown Methanosarcina thermophila. Evidence that acetyl-CoA is a physiological substrate

The carbon monoxide dehydrogenase complex from acetate-grown Methanosarcina thermophila was further studied by EPR spectroscopy. The as purified enzyme exhibited no paramagnetic species at 113 K; however, enzyme reduced with CO exhibited a complex EPR spectrum comprised of two paramagnetic species with g values of g1 = 2.089, g2 = 2.078, and g3 = 2.030 (signal I) and g1 = 2.057, g2 = 2.049, and g3 = 2.027 (signal II). Isotopic substitution with 61Ni, 57Fe, or 13CO resulted in broadening of the EPR spectra indicating a Ni-Fe-C spin-coupled complex. Pure signal II was obtained following treatment of the CO-reduced enzyme with acetyl-CoA but not by addition of acetyl phosphate or CoASH. Acetate-grown cells were highly enriched in acetate kinase (EC 2.7.2.1) and CoASH-dependent phosphotransacetylase (EC 2.3.1.8) activities. These results suggest acetyl-CoA is a physiological substrate for the carbon monoxide dehydrogenase complex synthesized in acetate-grown cells of M. thermophila.