Functional changes associated with the sequential transformation of L'4 into L4 pyruvate kinase.

The functional changes, associated with the sequential transformation of L'4 into L4 pyruvate kinase (ATP:pyruvate 2-O-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.40) were studied. L'4 enzyme from human erythrocytes shows strong hysteretic behaviour: the initial rate of the enzyme preincubated with an unsaturating concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate is much higher than of the enzyme preincubated with ADP, at the same phosphoenolpyruvate concentration, although the "final activity" (the activity of the linear part of the reaction progress curve) was the same in both cases. This phenomenon was observed both in the presence and absence of fructose 1,6-diphosphate. High concentrations of both Mg2+free and MgATP2- diminish the difference in initial rate, between the ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate preincubated enzymes: Mg2+free by stabilizing the phosphoenolpyruvate-induced form; ATPMg2- by stabilizing the ADP-induced form. The magnitude of the difference in initial rates of the ADP-or phosphoenolpyruvate-preincubated enzyme is a function of both substrates. L4 pyruvate kinase (either from human liver or trypsin treated L'4 enzyme) does not, or to a very slight extent, show such behaviour. L'2L2 pyruvate kinase shows behaviour intermediate between L'4 and L4 enzymes. A model is proposed to describe the kinetic behaviour of L'4 and L4 enzymes.     

The regulatory properties of yeast pyruvate kinase. Effect of pH.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied at 25 degrees C as a function of the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ and the effector H+ in the pH range 5-6.6. The enzyme was activated by 100 mM-K+ and 32 mM-NH4+ throughout. It was found that the data could be described by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme. On that basis, it was concluded that the binding of H+ is positively interactive and that the protonated enzyme is catalytically inactive. It was also found that H+ interacts positively with phosphoenolpyruvate but negatively with both ADP and Mg2+.     

The regulatory properties of yeast pyruvate kinase.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in assays at pH 6.2 where the relationships between the initial velocities of the catalysed reaction and the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ are non-hyperbolic. The findings were represented empirically by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme. The analysis shows that ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ display positive homotropic interaction in their binding behaviour with (calculated) Hill slopes at half-saturation equal to 1.06, 2.35 and 3.11 respectively [Ainsworth (1977) J. Theor. Biol. 68, 391-413]. The direct heterotropic interaction between ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate is small and negative, but the overall interaction between these substrates becomes positive when their positive interactions with Mg2+ are taken into account. The heterotropic interactions of the substrates, though smaller in magnitude, are comparable with those revealed by the rabbit muscle enzyme [Ainsworth, Kinderlerer & Gregory (1983) Biochem. J. 209, 401-411], and it is suggested that they have a common origin in charge interactions within the active site.     

Plant cytosolic pyruvate kinase: a kinetic study.

The kinetic properties of cytosolic pyruvate kinase (PKc) from germinating castor oil seeds (COS) have been investigated. From experiments in which the free Mg2+ concentration was varied at constant levels of either the complexed or free forms of the substrates it was determined that the true substrates are the free forms of both phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and ADP. This conclusion is corroborated by the quenching of intrinsic PKC tryptophan fluorescence by free PEP and ADP. Mg2+ is bound as the free bivalent cation but is likely released as MgATP. The fluorescence data, substrate interaction kinetics, and pattern of inhibition by products and substrate analogues (adenosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) for ADP and phenyl phosphate for PEP) are compatible with a sequential, compulsory-ordered, Tri-Bi type kinetic reaction mechanism. PEP is the leading substrate, and pyruvate the last product to abandon the enzyme. The dissociation constant and limiting Km for free PEP (8.2 to 22 and 38 microM, respectively) and the limiting Km for free ADP (2.9 microM) are considerably lower than those reported for the non-plant enzyme. The results indicate that COS PKc exists naturally in an activated state, similar to the fructose 1,6-bisphosphate-activated yeast enzyme. This deduction is consistent with a previous study (F.E. Podestá and W.C. Plaxton (1991) Biochem. J. 279, 495-501) that failed to identify any allosteric activators for the COS PKc, but which proposed a regulatory mechanism based upon ATP levels and pH-dependent alterations in the enzyme's response to various metabolite inhibitors. As plant phosphofructokinases display potent inhibition by PEP, the overall rate of glycolytic flux from hexose 6-phosphate to pyruvate in the plant cytosol will ultimately depend upon variations in PEP levels brought about by the regulation of PKc.     

The purification and properties of pig spleen phosphofructokinase.

Pig spleen phosphofructokinase has been purified 800-fold with a yield of 17%. Two isoenzymes that appear to be kinetically identical can be separated by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. In common with the enzyme from other mammalian sources, the spleen enzyme has a pH optimum of 8.2. At pH 7.0 it displays sigmoidal kinetics with respect to fructose 6-phosphate concentration but its co-operative behaviour is very dependent on pH, protein concentration and the concentration of MgATP. MgGTP and MgITP can replace MgATP as phosphate donors but, unlike MgATP, these nucleotides do not cause significant inhibition. Mn2+ and Co2+ (as the metal ion-ATP complexes) act as cofactors and in the free form are far more inhibitory than free Mg2+. The spleen enzyme responds to a wide variety of potential effector molecules: ADP, AMP, cyclic AMP, aspartate, NH4+, fructose 6-phosphate, fructose 1,6-diphosphate and Pi all act as either activators or protectors, whereas Mg-ATP, Mg2+, citrate, phosphoenol-pyruvate and the phosphoglucerates are inhibitors.     

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate-activated pyruvate kinase from Escherichia coli. Nature of bonds involved in the allosteric mechanism

The allosteric properties of the fructose-1,6-bis-phosphate-activated pyruvate kinase from Escherichia coli were examined in the presence of a number of fructose bisphosphate analogues, as well as of increased ionic strength (NaCl) and of the hydrogen-bond-breaking agent, formamide. Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate and 5-phosphorylribose 1-pyrophosphate gave allosteric activation (additive to that of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate). Formamide always decreased Vmax, but left unchanged the Km for phosphoenolpyruvate, while it decreased the concentration of fructose bisphosphate required to give half-maximal activity (K0.5). NaCl increased the K0.5 for both phosphoenolpyruvate and fructose bisphosphate, leaving Vmax unchanged. These results are consistent with ionic binding of fructose bisphosphate through phosphates and with a critical role of hydrogen bonds in stabilizing both the inactive and the active enzyme conformers.     

The allosteric properties of beef-liver fructose bisphosphatase.

1. The activity of beef liver fructose bisphosphatase has been shown to respond cooperatively to increasing concentrations of the activating cations Mg2+ and Mn2+. The allosteric inhibitor AMP caused an increase in this cooperativity and a decrease in the apparent affinity of the enzyme for the activating cation. 2. The cooperative response of the enzyme to AMP is similarly increased by increasing cation concentrations with a concomitant decrease in the apparent affinity. 3. Direct binding experiments indicated that in the absence of either Mg2+ or Mn2+ the enzyme bound AMP non-cooperatively up to a maximum of two molecules per molecule of enzyme, a result that is indicative of half-sites reactivity. The binding became increasingly cooperative as the concentration of the activating cation was increased. 4. The substrate fructose bisphosphate had no effect on any of these cooperative responses. 5. These results may be most simply interpreted in terms of concerted model in which the activating cation functions both as an allosteric activator and as an essential cofactor for the reaction.     

Comparative kinetic studies on the L-type pyruvate kinase from rat liver and the enzyme phosphorylated by cyclic 3', 5'-AMP-stimulated protein kinase.

The kinetics of rat liver L-type pyruvate kinase (EC 2.7.1.40), phosphorylated with cyclic AMP-stimulated protein kinase from the same source, and the unphosphorylated enzyme have been compared. The effects of pH and various concentrations of substrates, Mg2+, K+ and modifiers were studied. In the absence of fructose 1, 6-diphosphate at pH 7.3, the phosphorylated pyruvate kinase appeared to have a lower affinity for phosphoenolpyruvate (K0.5=0.8 mM) than the unphosphorylated enzyme (K0.5=0.3 mM). The enzyme activity vs. phosphoenolpyruvate concentration curve was more sigmoidal for the phosphorylated enzyme with a Hill coefficient of 2.6 compared to 1.6 for the unphosphorylated enzyme. Fructose 1, 6-diphosphate increased the apparent affinity of both enzyme forms for phosphoenolpyruvate. At saturating concentrations of this activator, the kinetics of both enzyme forms were transformed to approximately the same hyperbolic curve, with a Hill coefficient of 1.0 and K0.5 of about 0.04 mM for phosphoenolpyruvate. The apparent affinity of the enzyme for fructose 1, 6-diphosphate was high at 0.2 mM phosphoenolpyruvate with a K0.5=0.06 muM for the unphosphorylated pyruvate kinase and 0.13 muM for the phosphorylated enzyme. However, in the presence of 0.5 mM alanine plus 1.5 mM ATP, a higher fructose 1, 6-diphosphate concentration was needed for activation, with K0.5 of 0.4 muM for the unphosphorylated enzyme and of 1.4 muM for the phosphorylated enzyme. The results obtained strongly indicate that phosphorylation of pyruvate kinase may also inhibit the enzyme in vivo. Such an inhibition should be important during gluconeogenesis.     

Kinetic studies on the activation of pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase from mung bean by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and related compounds

Pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase (PPi-PFK) was purified from the mung bean Phaseolus aureus. The enzyme is activated by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate at nanomolar concentrations. The enzyme exhibits Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and the reaction mechanism, deduced from initial velocity studies in the absence of inhibitors as well as product and dead-end inhibition studies, is rapid equilibrium random in the presence and absence of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. In the direction of fructose 6-phosphate phosphorylation, saturating fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (1 microM) increases V congruent to 9-fold and increases V/KMgPPi and V/KF6P about 30-fold. In the reverse direction (phosphate phosphorylation), the same concentration of activator has little if any effect on V or the Km for inorganic phosphate (Pi) and Mg2+ but does increase V/KFBP about 42-fold. No changes were observed in any of the other rate constants. The binding affinity of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate to all enzyme forms is identical. The activator site of the mung bean PPi-PFK binds fructose 2,6-bisphosphate with a Kact of 30 nM with the 2,5-anhydro-D-glucitol 1,6-bisphosphate (the most effective analogue) 33-fold less tightly. Of the alkanediol bisphosphate series, 1,4-butanediol bisphosphate exhibited the tightest binding (Kact congruent to 3 microM). These and a series of other activating analogues are discussed in relation to the activator site.     

Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate-activated pyruvate kinase from E. coli: ligand promoted conformational changes.

The ligand-dependent susceptibility to heat inactivation and to tryptic digestion and the intrinsic fluorescence of the fructose 1,6-bisphosphate-activated pyruvate kinase from Escherichia coli were investigated in the absence and in the presence of physiological ligands. With respect to the enzyme alone, binding of the allosteric activator fructose 1,6-bisphosphate makes the protein sensitive to tryptic attack and thermolabile, while binding of phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+, but not of either ligand separately, induces in the enzyme a highly thermostable conformation, the attainment of which does not require an ordered binding sequence of the two ligands. The apparent loosening of the enzyme structure induced by fructose bisphosphate suggests that the activation it exerts at low phosphoenolpyruvate concentration might be due to an increased accessibility of substrate to the active site.     

A kinetic study of pig liver pyruvate kinase activated by fructose diphosphate

The paper reports a study of the reaction between phosphoenolpyruvate, ADP and Mg(2+) catalysed by pig liver pyruvate kinase when activated by fructose diphosphate and K(+). The experimental results are consistent with two non-sequential mechanisms in which the substrates and products of the reaction are phosphoenolpyruvate, ADP, Mg(2+), pyruvate and MgATP. Pyruvate release occurs before ADP binding. Two Mg(2+) ions are involved, though the two Mg(2+)-binding sites cannot be occupied simultaneously. An isomerized enzyme complex forms before release of MgATP. Values were determined for the Michaelis constants of the reaction. Apparent MgATP inhibition constants are also given.     

The regulatory properties of yeast pyruvate kinase. Effects of NH4+ and K+ concentrations.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied at 25 degrees C and pH 6.2 as a function of the concentrations of ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate, Mg2+ and either NH4+ or K+. The data were analysed by the exponential model for four substrates, obtained by extension of the model described by Ainsworth, Kinderlerer & Gregory [(1983) Biochem. J. 209, 401-411]. On that basis, it was concluded that NH4+ binding is almost non-interactive but leads to the appearance of positive interaction in the velocity response to increase in its concentration because of positive interactions with phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+. The data obtained with K+ lead to the same conclusions and differ only in suggesting that NH4+ is bound more strongly to the enzyme than is K+. Both data sets are used as the basis for a discussion of the substrate interactions of pyruvate kinase and it appears therefrom that the heterotropic interactions accord with what is known of the events that take place at the active site during catalysis. The paper also reports a determination of the dissociation constants for the NH4+ complexes with ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate and an examination of the simultaneous activation of pyruvate kinase by K+ and NH4+ ions.     

The affinity of rabbit muscle fructose-bisphosphatase for fructose bisphosphate

This paper reports that microM concentrations of fructose bisphosphate are titrated by rabbit muscle fructose-bisphosphatase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.11) when the enzyme concentration is varied in the range which secures measurable initial velocities of reaction: a result that can only be explained by supposing that the enzyme has a greater affinity for fructose bisphosphate than suggested by Fernando, J., Enser, M., Pontremoli, S. and Horecker, B.L. (1968) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 126, 599-606. The results also suggest that the keto form of the substrate may be the preferred configuration and that the enzyme is inhibited by magnesium-bound fructose bisphosphate.     

Activation and regulation of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase in the absence of small subunits.

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase from Rhodospirillum rubrum requires CO2 and Mg2+ for activation of both CO2, both the carboxylase and oxygenase activities are stimulated by 6-phoshpo-D-gluconate, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, 2-phosphoglycolate, 3-phosphoglycerate, NADPH, and fructose 6-phosphate. The carboxylase activity is not activated by ribose 5-phosphate. The substrate, ribulose bisphosphate, neither activates nor inhibits the CO2 and Mg2+ activation of this enzyme. Activation by CO2 and Mg2+ is rapid and results in increased susceptibility to active-site-directed protein modification reagents. Because the R. rubrum carboxylase-oxygenase is a dimer of large subunits and contains no small subunits, these results suggest that the effector binding sites of the higher plant enzyme may also be found on the large subunit.     

An investigation of the interactions of the allosteric modifiers of pyruvate kinase with the enzyme from Carcinus maenas hepatopancreas.

1. Pyruvate kinase purified from the hepatopancrease of Carcinus maenas exhibited sigmoidal saturation kinetics with respect to the substrate phosphoenolpyruvate in the absence of the allosteric activator fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, but normal hyperbolic saturation was seen in the presence of this activator. The activation appears to be the result of a decrease in the s0.5 (phosphoenolpyruvate) and not to a change in Vmax. 2. In the presence of ADP and ATP at a constant nucleotide-pool size the results indicate that phosphoenolpyruvate co-operativity is lost on increasing the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio. 3. Paralleling this change is the observation that the fructose 1,6-bisphosphate activation became less at the [ATP]/[ATP] ratio was increased. This was due to the enzyme exhibiting a near-maximal activity in the absence of activator. 4. L-Alanine inhibited the enzyme, but homotropic co-operative interactions were only seen with a cruder (1000000g supernatant) enzyme preparation. The inhibition by alanine could be overcome by increasing the concentration of either phosphoenolpyruvate or fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, although increasing the L-alanine concentration did not appear to be able to reverse the activation by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. 5. In the presence of a low concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate, increasing the concentration of the product, ATP, caused an initial increase in enzyme activity, followed by an inhibitory phase. In the presence of either fructose 1,6-bisphosphate or L-alanine only inhibition was seen. 6. The inhibition by ATP could not be completely reversed by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate.     

MgADP and free Pi as the substrates and the Mg2+ requirement for photophosphorylation.

Previous studies have not provided definitive information about whether ADP or Pi or their complexes with Mg2+ serve as substrates for photophosphorylation and whether free Mg2+ or ADP is required. Results presented show MgADP, MgGDP, or MgUDP are substrates. At variable Mg2+ concentrations, observed velocities are determined by MgADP and not the free ADP concentration. The approximate Km for MgADP with spinach chloroplasts is about 30 microM, for MgGDP 260 microM, and for MgUDP above 5 mM. The apparent Km values for added ADP or Mg2+ are decreased to constant low values near 30 microM as the added Mg2+ or ADP concentrations, respectively, are increased to the millimolar range. With 100 microM added Mg2+, near-maximal velocities can be obtained with excess ADP, but not with excess GDP or UDP. This is explainable by the apparent Km values for MgGDP and MgUDP being well above 100 microM. High phosphorylation rates with excess of either Mg2+ or ADP present show that little or no (less than 2-3 microM) free Mg2+ or ADP is required. In addition, the results show that during rapid photophosphorylation, when one or more catalytic sites are always filled with nucleotide, free ADP does not combine and block the combination of MgADP to catalytic sites that become vacant. This is in contrast to the ability of free ADP to combine tightly with one catalytic site when all catalytic sites are empty. The apparent Km for added ADP above a few micromolar concentration, and with excess Mg2+ present, results from binding of MgADP at a second catalytic site.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Properties of pyruvate kinase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in relation to the direction and regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate metabolism in muscles of the frog and marine invertebrates

1. The properties of pyruvate kinase and, if present, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase from the muscles of the sea anemone, scallop, oyster, crab, lobster and frog were investigated. 2. In general, the properties of pyruvate kinase from all muscles were similar, except for those of the enzyme from the oyster (adductor muscle); the pH optima were between 7.1 and 7.4, whereas that for oyster was 8.2; fructose bisphosphate lowered the optimum pH of the oyster enzyme from 8.2 to 7.1, but it had no effect on the enzymes from other muscles. Hill coefficients for the effect of the concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate were close to unity in the absence of added alanine for the enzymes from all muscles except oyster adductor muscle; it was 1.5 for this enzyme. Alanine inhibited the enzyme from all muscles except the frog; this inhibition was relieved by fructose bisphosphate. Low concentrations of alanine were very effective with the enzyme from the oyster (50% inhibition was observed at 0.4mm). Fructose bisphosphate activated the enzyme from all muscles, but extremely low concentrations were effective with the oyster enzyme (0.13mum produced 50% activation). 3. In general, the properties of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase from the sea anemone and oyster muscles are similar: the K(m) values for phosphoenolpyruvate are low (0.10 and 0.13mm); the enzymes require Mn(2+) in addition to Mg(2+) for activity; and ITP inhibits the enzymes and the inhibition is relieved by alanine. These latter compounds had no effect on enzymes from other muscles. 4. It is suggested that changes in concentrations of fructose bisphosphate, alanine and ITP produce a coordinated mechanism of control of the activities of pyruvate kinase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in the sea anemone and oyster muscles, which ensures that phosphoenolpyruvate is converted into oxaloacetate and then into succinate in these muscles under anaerobic conditions. 5. It is suggested that in the muscles of the crab, lobster and frog, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase catalyses the conversion of oxaloacetate into phosphoenolpyruvate. This may be part of a pathway for the oxidation of some amino acids in these muscles.     

Kinetic properties of spermine synthase from bovine brain.

Phosphofructokinase (EC 2.7.1.11) from a citric acid-producing strain of Aspergillus niger was partially purified by the application of affinity chromatography on Blue Dextran--Sepharose and the use of fructose 6-phosphate and glycerol as stabilizers in the working buffer. The resulting preparation was still impure, but free of enzyme activities interfering with kinetic investigations. Kinetic studies showed that the enzyme exhibits high co-operativity with fructose 6-phosphate, but shows Michaelis--Menten kinetics with ATP, which inhibits at concentrations higher than those for maximal activity. Citrate and phosphoenolpyruvate inhibit the enzyme; citrate increases the substrate (fructose 6-phosphate) concentration for half-maximal velocity, [S]0.5, and the Hill coefficient, h. The inhibition by citrate is counteracted by NH4+, AMP and phosphate. Among univalent cations tested only NH4+ activates by decreasing the [S]0.5 for fructose 6-phosphate and h, but has no effect on Vmax. AMP and ADP activate at low and inhibit at high concentrations of fructose 6-phosphate, thereby decreasing the [S]0.5 for fructose 6-phosphate. Phosphate has no effect in the absence of citrate. The results indicate that phosphofructokinase from A. niger is a distinct species of this enzyme, with some properties similar to those of the yeast enzyme and in some other properties resembling the mammalian enzyme. The results of determinations of activity at substrate and effector concentrations resembling the conditions that occur in vivo support the hypothesis that the apparent insensitivity of the enzyme to citrate during the accumulation of citric acid in the fungus is due to counteraction of citrate inhibition by NH4+.     

Effects of various metabolic conditions and of the trivalent arsenical melarsen oxide on the intracellular levels of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and of glycolytic intermediates in Trypanosoma brucei

Upon differential centrifugation of cell-free extracts of Trypanosoma brucei, 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase and fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase behaved as cytosolic enzymes. The two activities could be separated from each other by chromatography on both blue Sepharose and anion exchangers. 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase had a Km for both its substrates in the millimolar range. Its activity was dependent on the presence of inorganic phosphate and was inhibited by phosphoenolpyruvate but not by citrate or glycerol 3-phosphate. The Km of fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase was 7 microM; this enzyme was inhibited by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (Ki = 10 microM) and, less potently, by fructose 6-phosphate, phosphoenolpyruvate and glycerol 3-phosphate. Melarsen oxide inhibited 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (Ki less than 1 microM) and fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (Ki = 2 microM) much more potently than pyruvate kinase (Ki greater than 100 microM). The intracellular concentrations of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and hexose 6-phosphate were highest with glucose, intermediate with fructose and lowest with glycerol and dihydroxyacetone as glycolytic substrates. When added with glucose, salicylhydroxamic acid caused a decrease in the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, ATP, hexose 6-phosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. These studies indicate that the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate is mainly controlled by the concentration of the substrates of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase. The changes in the concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate were in agreement with the stimulatory effect of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate on pyruvate kinase. At micromolar concentrations, melarsen oxide blocked almost completely the formation of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate induced by glucose, without changing the intracellular concentrations of ATP and of hexose 6-phosphates. At higher concentrations (3-10 microM), this drug caused cell lysis, a proportional decrease in the glycolytic flux, as well as an increase in the phosphoenolypyruvate concentrations which was restricted to the extracellular compartment. Similar changes were induced by digitonin. It is concluded that the lytic effect of melarsen oxide on the bloodstream form of T. brucei is not the result of an inhibition of pyruvate kinase.     

Kinetic properties of rat liver pyruvate kinase at cellular concentrations of enzyme, substrates and modifiers

Kinetic properties of rat liver pyruvate kinase type I at pH7.5 and 6.5 were studied with physiological ranges of substrates, modifiers and Mg(2+) concentrations at increasing enzyme concentrations, including the estimated cellular concentrations (approx. 0.1mg/ml). Enzyme properties appear unaffected by increased enzyme concentration if phosphoenolpyruvate, fructose 1,6-diphosphate and inhibitors are incubated with enzyme before starting the reaction with ADP. Our data suggest that minimum cellular concentrations of MgATP and l-alanine provide virtually complete inhibition of pyruvate kinase I at pH7.5. The most likely cellular control of existing pyruvate kinase I results from the strong restoration of enzyme activity by the small physiological amounts of fructose 1,6-diphosphate. Decreasing the pH to 6.5 also restores pyruvate kinase activity, but to only about one-third of its activity in the presence of fructose 1,6-diphosphate. Neither pyruvate nor 2-phosphoglycerate at cellular concentrations inhibit the enzyme significantly.