Sugar transport across the peritubular face of renal cells of the flounder

The transport of some sugars at the antiluminal face of renal cells was studied using teased tubules of flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus). The analytical procedure allowed the determination of both free and total (free plus phosphorylated) tissue sugars. The inulin space of the preparation was 0.333 ± 0.017 kg/kg wet wt (7 animals, 33 analyses). The nonmetabolizable α-methyl-D-glucoside entered the cells by a carrier-mediated (phloridzin-sensitive), ouabain-insensitive process. The steady-state tissue/medium ratio was systematically below that for diffusion equilibrium. D-Glucose was a poor inhibitor of α-methyl-glucoside transport, D-galactose was ineffective. The phloridzin-sensitive transport processes of 2-deoxy-D-glucose,D-galactose,and 2-deoxy-D-galactose were associated with considerable phosphorylation. Kinetic evidence suggested that these sugars were transported in free form and subsequently were phosphorylated. 2-Deoxy-D-glucose accumulated in the cells against a slight concentration gradient. This transport was greatly inhibited by D-glucose, whereas α-methyl-glucoside and also D-galactose and its 2-deoxy-derivative were ineffective. D-Galactose and 2-deoxy-D-galactose mutually competed for transport; D-glucose, 2-deoxy-D-glucose, and α-methyl-D-glucoside were ineffective. Studies using various sugars as inhibitors suggest the presence of three carrier-mediated pathways of sugar transport at the antiluminal cell face of the flounder renal tubule: the pathway of α-methyl-D-glucoside (not shared by D-glucose); the pathway commonly shared by 2-deoxy-D-glucose and D-glucose; the pathway shared by D-galactose and 2-deoxy-D-galactose.     

Structural requirements for active intestinal transport. The nature of the carrier–sugar bonding at C-2 and the ring oxygen of the sugar

Several weakly transported sugars were tested for transport by the Na⁺-dependent sugar carrier with slices of everted hamster intestinal tissue. Sugars were assumed to be transported by this carrier if the accumulation was diminished in the absence of Na⁺ and in the presence of the competitive inhibitor 1,5-anhydro-d-glucitol. The extent of accumulation was correlated with the number of hydroxyl groups in the d-gluco configuration if the ring oxygen was placed in the normal d-glucose position. 5-Thio-d-glucose, with a sulphur atom in the ring, was transported at about the same rate as d-glucose and had a similar K_i for d-galactose transport, but myoinositol was poorly accumulated. It is suggested that there is no hydrogen bonding at the ring oxygen atom, but that the oxygen atom is found at this position as a result of steric constraints. No sugar without a hydroxyl group in the d-gluco position at C-2 of the sugar, including d-mannose, 2-deoxy-d-glucose, 2-chloro-2-deoxy-d-glucose and 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-d-glucose, was transported by the Na⁺-dependent carrier, but these sugars and l-fucose weakly and competitively inhibit the Na⁺-dependent accumulation of l-glucose into slices of everted hamster intestinal tissue. It is concluded that the bond between the carrier and C-2 of the sugar may be covalent, and a possible mechanism for active intestinal transport is proposed.     

The use of potential-sensitive cyanine dye for studying ion-dependent electrogenic renal transport of organic solutes. Spectrophotometric measurements

Renal transport of four different categories of organic solutes, namely sugars, neutral amino acids, monocarboxylic acids and dicarboxylic acids, was studied by using the potential-sensitive dye 3,3′-diethyloxadicarbocyanine iodide in purified luminal-membrane and basolateral-membrane vesicles isolated from rabbit kidney cortex. Valinomycin-induced K⁺ diffusion potentials resulted in concomitant changes in dye–membrane-vesicle absorption spectra. Linear relationships were obtained between these changes and depolarization and hyperpolarization of the vesicles. Addition of d-glucose, l-phenylalanine, succinate or l-lactate to luminal-membrane vesicles, in the presence of an extravesicular>intravesicular Na⁺ gradient, resulted in rapid transient depolarization. With basolateral-membrane vesicles no electrogenic transport of d-glucose or l-phenylalanine was observed. Spectrophotometric competition studies revealed that d-galactose is electrogenically taken up by the same transport system as that for d-glucose, whereas l-phenylalanine, succinate and l-lactate are transported by different systems in luminal-membrane vesicles. The absorbance changes associated with simultaneous addition of d-glucose and l-phenylalanine were additive. The uptake of these solutes was influenced by the presence of Na⁺-salt anions of different permeabilities in the order: Cl⁻>SO₄²⁻>gluconate. Addition of valinomycin to K⁺-loaded vesicles enhanced uptake of d-glucose and l-phenylalanine in the presence of an extravesicular>intravesicular Na⁺ gradient. Gramicidin or valinomycin plus nigericin diminished/abolished electrogenic solute uptake by Na⁺- or Na⁺+K⁺-loaded vesicles respectively. These results strongly support the presence of Na⁺-dependent renal electrogenic transport of d-glucose, l-phenylalanine, succinate and l-lactate in luminal-membrane vesicles.     

In Vitro Analysis of the H-Hexose Symporter on the Plasma Membrane of Sugarbeets (Beta vulgaris L.)

The mechanism of hexose transport into plasma membrane vesicles isolated from mature sugarbeet leaves (Beta vulgaris L.) was investigated. The initial rate of glucose uptake into the vesicles was stimulated approximately fivefold by imposing a transmembrane pH gradient (ΔpH), alkaline inside, and approximately fourfold by a negative membrane potential (ΔΨ), generated as a K⁺-diffusion potential, negative inside. The -fold stimulation was directly related to the relative ΔpH or ΔΨ gradient imposed, which were determined by the uptake of acetate or tetraphenylphosphonium, respectively. ΔΨ- and ΔpH-dependent glucose uptake showed saturation kinetics with a K_m of 286 micromolar for glucose. Other hexose molecules (e.g. 2-deoxy-d-glucose, 3-O-methyl-d-glucose, and d-mannose) were also accumulated into plasma membrane vesicles in a ΔpH-dependent manner. Inhibition constants of a number of compounds for glucose uptake were determined. Effective inhibitors of glucose uptake included: 3-O-methyl-d-glucose, 5-thio-d-glucose, d-fructose, d-galactose, and d-mannose, but not 1-O-methyl-d-glucose, d- and l-xylose, l-glucose, d-ribose, and l-sorbose. Under all conditions of proton motive force magnitude and glucose and sucrose concentration tested, there was no effect of sucrose on glucose uptake. Thus, hexose transport on the sugarbeet leaf plasma membrane was by a H⁺-hexose symporter, and the carrier and possibly the energy source were not shared by the plasma membrane H⁺-sucrose symporter.     

STUDIES ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BRUSH BORDER IN INTESTINAL EPITHELIAL CELLS : I. Tris Disruption of Isolated Hamster Brush Borders and Density Gradient Separation of Fractions

Brush borders isolated from the epithelial cells of hamster jejunum have been dissociated by treatment with 1 M Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane into several subfractions which can be separated by means of centrifugation on glycerol density gradients. Investigation of the chemical specificity of disrupting agents suggests that the amino group of Tris, in its positively charged state, is involved. Five individual bands or fractions have been routinely recovered from density gradients. The distribution of alkaline phosphatase and maltase activities among these fractions has been studied and the results indicate that both enzymes are predominantly associated with one fraction which has been identified in a companion paper as being composed of the membranes of the brush border microvilli. A fibrillar material of unidentified origin has also been obtained from Tris-disrupted brush borders.     

An l-glucose Catabolic Pathway in Paracoccus Species 43P

An l-glucose-utilizing bacterium, Paracoccus sp. 43P, was isolated from soil by enrichment cultivation in a minimal medium containing l-glucose as the sole carbon source. In cell-free extracts from this bacterium, NAD⁺-dependent l-glucose dehydrogenase was detected as having sole activity toward l-glucose. This enzyme, LgdA, was purified, and the lgdA gene was found to be located in a cluster of putative inositol catabolic genes. LgdA showed similar dehydrogenase activity toward scyllo- and myo-inositols. l-Gluconate dehydrogenase activity was also detected in cell-free extracts, which represents the reaction product of LgdA activity toward l-glucose. Enzyme purification and gene cloning revealed that the corresponding gene resides in a nine-gene cluster, the lgn cluster, which may participate in aldonate incorporation and assimilation. Kinetic and reaction product analysis of each gene product in the cluster indicated that they sequentially metabolize l-gluconate to glycolytic intermediates, d-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, and pyruvate through reactions of C-5 epimerization by dehydrogenase/reductase, dehydration, phosphorylation, and aldolase reaction, using a pathway similar to l-galactonate catabolism in Escherichia coli. Gene disruption studies indicated that the identified genes are responsible for l-glucose catabolism.     

Amino Acid and Sugar Transport in Rabbit Ileum

L-Alanine and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose accumulation by mucosal strips from rabbit ileum has been investigated with particular emphasis on the interaction between Na and these transport processes. L-Alanine is rapidly accumulated by mucosal tissue and intracellular concentrations of approximately 50 mM are reached within 30 min when extracellular L-alanine concentration is 5 mM. Evidence is presented that intracellular alanine exists in an unbound, osmotically active form and that accumulation is an active transport process. In the absence of extracellular Na, the final ratio of intracellular to extracellular L-alanine does not differ significantly from unity and the rate of net uptake is markedly inhibited. Amino acid accumulation is also inhibited by 5 x 10^-5 M ouabain. 3-O-methyl-D-glucose accumulation by this preparation is similarly affected by ouabain and by incubation in a Na-free medium. The effects of amino acid accumulation, of ouabain, and of incubation in a Na-free medium on cell water content and intracellular Na and K concentrations have also been investigated. These results are discussed with reference to the two hypotheses which have been suggested to explain the interaction between Na and intestinal nonelectrolyte transport.     

The metabolism of galactarate, d-glucarate and various pentoses by species of Pseudomonas

1. When NAD⁺ was present, cell extracts of Pseudomonas (A) grown with d-glucarate or galactarate converted 1mol. of either substrate into 1mol. each of 2-oxoglutarate and carbon dioxide; 70–80% of the gas originated from C-1 of the hexarate. 2. The enzyme system that liberated carbon dioxide from galactarate was inactive in air and was stabilized by galactarate or Fe²⁺ ions; the system that acted on d-glucarate was more stable and was stimulated by Mg²⁺ ions. 3. When NAD⁺ was not added, 2-oxoglutarate semialdehyde accumulated from either substrate. This compound was isolated as its bis-2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone, and several properties of the derivative were compared with those of the chemically synthesized material. Methods were developed for the determination of 2-oxoglutarate semialdehyde. 4. Synthetic 2-oxoglutarate semialdehyde was converted into 2-oxoglutarate by an enzyme that required NAD⁺; the reaction rate with NADP⁺ was about one-sixth of that with NAD⁺. 5. For extracts of Pseudomonas (A) grown with d-glucarate or galactarate, or for those of Pseudomonas fragi grown with l-arabinose or d-xylose, specific activities of 2-oxoglutarate semialdehyde–NAD oxidoreductase were much higher than for extracts of the organisms grown with (+)-tartrate and d-glucose respectively. 6. Extracts of Pseudomonas fragi grown with l-arabinose or d-xylose converted l-arabonate or d-xylonate into 2-oxoglutarate when NAD⁺ was added to reaction mixtures and into 2-oxoglutarate semialdehyde when NAD⁺ was omitted.     

Transport of glucose and galactose in kidney-cortex cells

1. The aerobic transport of d-glucose and d-galactose in rabbit kidney tissue at 25° was studied. 2. In slices forming glucose from added substrates an accumulation of glucose against its concentration gradient was found. The apparent ratio of intracellular ([S]_i) and extracellular ([S]_o) glucose concentrations was increased by 0·4mm-phlorrhizin and 0·3mm-ouabain. 3. Slices and isolated renal tubules actively accumulated glucose from the saline; the apparent [S]_i/[S]_o fell below 1·0 only at [S]_o higher than 0·5mm. 4. The rate of glucose oxidation by slices was characterized by the following parameters: K_m 1·16mm; V_max. 4·5μmoles/g. wet wt./hr. 5. The active accumulation of glucose from the saline was decreased by 0·1mm-2,4-dinitrophenol, 0·4mm-phlorrhizin and by the absence of external Na⁺. 6. The kinetic parameters of galactose entry into the cells were: K_m 1·5mm; V_max 10μmoles/g. wet wt./hr. 7. The efflux kinetics from slices indicated two intracellular compartments for d-galactose. The galactose efflux was greatly diminished at 0°, was inhibited by 0·4mm-phlorrhizin, but was insensitive to ouabain. 8. The following mechanism of glucose and galactose transport in renal tubular cells is suggested: (a) at the tubular membrane, these sugars are actively transported into the cells by a metabolically- and Na⁺-dependent phlorrhizin-sensitive mechanism; (b) at the basal cell membrane, these sugars are transported in accordance with their concentration gradient by a phlorrhizin-sensitive Na⁺-independent facilitated diffusion. The steady-state intracellular sugar concentration is determined by the kinetic parameters of active entry, passive outflow and intracellular utilization.     

Characterization of a Cellobiose Phosphorylase from a Hyperthermophilic Eubacterium,Thermotoga maritima MSB8

The cepA putative gene encoding a cellobiose phosphorylase of Thermotoga maritima MSB8 was cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli BL21-codonplus-RIL and characterized in detail. The maximal enzyme activity was observed at pH 6.2 and 80°C. The energy of activation was 74 kJ/mol. The enzyme was stable for 30 min at 70°C in the pH range of 6-8. The enzyme phosphorolyzed cellobiose in an random-ordered bi bi mechanism with the random binding of cellobiose and phosphate followed by the ordered release of D-glucose and α-D-glucose-1-phosphate. The K _m for cellobiose and phosphate were 0.29 and 0.15 mM respectively, and the k _cat was 5.4 s^-1. In the synthetic reaction, D-glucose, D-mannose, 2-deoxy-D-glucose, D-glucosamine, D-xylose, and 6-deoxy-D-glucose were found to act as glucosyl acceptors. Methyl-β-D-glucoside also acted as a substrate for the enzyme and is reported here for the first time as a substrate for cellobiose phosphorylases. D-Xylose had the highest (40 s^-1) k _cat followed by 6-deoxy-D-glucose (17 s^-1) and 2-deoxy-D-glucose (16 s^-1). The natural substrate, D-glucose with the k _cat of 8.0 s^-1 had the highest (1.1×10⁴ M^-1 s^-1) k _cat/K _m compared with other glucosyl acceptors. D-Glucose, a substrate of cellobiose phosphorylase, acted as a competitive inhibitor of the other substrate, α-D-glucose-1-phosphate, at higher concentrations.     

myo-Inositol-1-Phosphatase from the Pollen of Lilium longiflorum Thunb

A Mg²⁺-dependent, alkaline phosphatase has been isolated from mature pollen of Lilium longiflorum Thunb., cv. Ace and partially purified. It hydrolyzes 1l- and 1d-myo-inositol 1-phosphate, myo-inositol 2-phosphate, and β-glycerophosphate at rates decreasing in the order named. The affinity of the enzyme for 1l- and 1d-myo-inositol 1-phosphate is approximately 10-fold greater than its affinity for myo-inositol 2-phosphate. Little or no activity is found with phytate, d-glucose 6-phosphate, d-glucose 1-phosphate, d-fructose 1-phosphate, d-fructose 6-phosphate, d-mannose 6-phosphate, or p-nitrophenyl phosphate. 3-Phosphosphoglycerate is a weak competitive inhibitor. myo-Inositol does not inhibit the reaction. Optimal activity is obtained at pH 8.5 and requires the presence of Mg²⁺. At 4 millimolar, Co²⁺, Fe²⁺ or Mn²⁺ are less effective. Substantial inhibition is obtained with 0.25 molar Li⁺. With β-glycerophosphate as substrate the K_m is 0.06 millimolar and the reaction remains linear at least 2 hours. In 0.1 molar Tris, β-glycerophosphate yields equivalent amounts of glycerol and inorganic phosphate, evidence that transphosphorylation does not occur.     

Accumulation of d-Glucose from Pentoses by Metabolically Engineered Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli that is unable to metabolize d-glucose (with knockouts in ptsG, manZ, and glk) accumulates a small amount of d-glucose (yield of about 0.01 g/g) during growth on the pentoses d-xylose or l-arabinose as a sole carbon source. Additional knockouts in the zwf and pfkA genes, encoding, respectively, d-glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase and 6-phosphofructokinase I (E. coli MEC143), increased accumulation to greater than 1 g/liter d-glucose and 100 mg/liter d-mannose from 5 g/liter d-xylose or l-arabinose. Knockouts of other genes associated with interconversions of d-glucose-phosphates demonstrate that d-glucose is formed primarily by the dephosphorylation of d-glucose-6-phosphate. Under controlled batch conditions with 20 g/liter d-xylose, MEC143 generated 4.4 g/liter d-glucose and 0.6 g/liter d-mannose. The results establish a direct link between pentoses and hexoses and provide a novel strategy to increase carbon backbone length from five to six carbons by directing flux through the pentose phosphate pathway.     

Importance of the pentose phosphate pathway for d-glucose catabolism in the obligatory aerobic yeast Rhodotorula gracilis

d-Glucose catabolism of a phosphofructokinase-deficient yeast Rhodotorula gracilis has been studied. By using d-glucose specifically ¹⁴C-labelled at different positions and measuring the distribution of the label in various fractions of cell metabolism, the following results were found. 1. The pentose phosphate pathway, being the main pathway of d-glucose catabolism, simultaneously converts glucose molecules into pentose phosphates oxidatively by using two NADP-linked dehydrogenases and via the non-oxidative transketolase–transaldolase pathway. 2. From the correlation of the ¹⁴CO₂ liberation and the d-glucose consumption and from the fact that the pentose phosphate moiety in nucleic acids is almost equally labelled from d-[1-¹⁴C]- and d-[6-¹⁴C]-glucose, it is concluded that of the glucose utilized about 80% undergoes transformation via the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. Only about 20% of glucose is directly decarboxylated to pentose phosphate. 3. For further degradation it is postulated that the pentose phosphates are split into C₂ fragments and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphates. 4. All three loci of oxidative decarboxylation appear to be effective in Rh. gracilis, the oxidative part of the pentose phosphate pathway, the decarboxylation of pyruvate in the later part of the glycolytic pathway as well as the oxidation in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. 5. d-Glucose molecules taken up are only partially oxidized to CO₂: about four-fifths of each glucose molecule metabolized is incorporated into cell constituents. 6. The quantitative interrelations of the fluxes of d-glucose subunits along the catabolic pathways have been estimated and are discussed.     

The biosynthesis of polysaccharides. Incorporation of d-[1-14C]glucose and d-[6-14C]glucose into plum-leaf polysaccharides

1. The utilization of specifically labelled d-glucose in the biosynthesis of plum-leaf polysaccharides has been studied. After these precursors had been metabolized in plum leaves, the polysaccharides were isolated from the leaves, and their monosaccharide constituents isolated and purified. 2. Both the specific activities and the distribution of ¹⁴C along the carbon chains of the monosaccharides were determined. Significant ¹⁴C activity was found in units of d-galactose, d-glucose, d-xylose and l-arabinose, but their specific activities varied widely. The labelling patterns suggest that in the leaves the other monosaccharides all arise directly from d-glucose without any skeletal change in the carbon chain, other than the loss of a terminal carbon atom in the synthesis of pentoses. 3. The results indicated that within the leaf there are various precursor pools for polysaccharide synthesis and that these pools are not in equilibrium with one another.     

Uptake of monosaccharides by guinea-pig cerebral-cortex slices

By the use of 1mm-iodoacetate to inhibit glycolysis in guinea-pig cerebral tissue slices, the kinetics of the uptake of monosaccharides on transfer of tissue from 0° to 37° were studied. d-Ribose, d-galactose, d-mannose, l-sorbose, and d-fructose showed diffusion kinetics, whereas 2-deoxy-d-glucose, d-glucose, d-arabinose and d-xylose showed saturation kinetics.     

Glutamate, glutamine, aspartate, asparagine, glucose and ketone-body metabolism in chick intestinal brush-border cells

1. Suspensions of isolated chick jejunal columnar absorptive (brush-border) cells respired on endogenous substrates at a rate 40% higher than that shown by rat brush-border cells. 2. Added d-glucose (5 or 10mm), l-glutamine (2.5mm) and l-glutamate (2.5mm) were the only individual substrates which stimulated respiration by chick cells; l-aspartate (2.5 or 6.7mm), glutamate (6.7mm), glutamine (6.7mm), l-alanine (1 or 10mm), pyruvate (1 or 2mm), l-lactate (5 or 10mm), butyrate (10mm) and oleate (1mm) did not stimulate chick cell respiration; l-asparagine (6.7mm) inhibited slightly; glucose (5mm) stimulated more than did 10mm-glucose. 3. Acetoacetate (10mm) and d-3-hydroxybutyrate (10mm) were rapidly consumed but, in contrast to rat brush-border cells, did not stimulate respiration. 4. Glucose (10mm) was consumed more slowly than 5mm-glucose; the dominant product of glucose metabolism during vigorous respiration was lactate; the proportion of glucose converted to lactate was greater with 10mm- than with 5mm-glucose. 5. Glutamate and aspartate consumption rates decreased, and alanine and glutamine consumption rates increased when their initial concentrations were raised from 2.5 to 6.7 or 10mm. 6. The metabolic fate of glucose was little affected by concomitant metabolism of any one of aspartate, glutamate or glutamine except for an increased production of alanine; the glucose-stimulated respiration rate was unaffected by concomitant metabolism of these individual amino acids. 7. Chick cells produced very little alanine from aspartate and, in contrast to rat cells, likewise produced very little alanine from glutamate or glutamine; in chick cells alanine appeared to be predominantly a product of transmination of pyruvate derived from glucose metabolism. 8. In chick cells, glutamate and glutamine were formed from aspartate (2.5 or 6.7mm); aspartate and glutamine were formed from glutamate (2.5mm) but only aspartate from 6.7mm-glutamate; glutamate was the dominant product formed from glutamine (6.7mm) but aspartate only was formed from 2.5mm-glutamine. 9. Chick brush-border cells can thus both catabolize and synthesize glutamine; glutamine synthesis is always diminished by concomitant metabolism of glucose, presumably by allosteric inhibition of glutamine synthetase by alanine. 10. Proline was formed from glutamine (2.5mm) but not from glutamine (2.5mm)+glucose (5mm) and not from 2.5mm-glutamate; ornithine was formed from glutamine (2.5mm)+glucose (5.0mm) but not from glutamine alone; serine was formed from glutamine (2.5mm)+glucose (5mm) and from these two substrates plus aspartate (2.5mm). 11. Total intracellular adenine nucleotides (22μmol/g dry wt.) remained unchanged during incubation of chick cells with glucose. 12. Intracellular glutathione (0.7–0.8mm) was depleted by 40% during incubation of respiring chick cells without added substrates for 75min at 37°C; partial restoration of the lost glutathione was achieved by incubating cells with l-glutamate+l-cysteine+glycine.     

Synthesis of α-<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">D</Emphasis>-Glucose 1,6-Diphosphate in Potentially Prebiotic Conditions

A NOVEL method for the phosphorylation of sugars by orthophosphate in the presence of cyanogen in dilute aqueous neutral or slightly alkaline solutions has been described, suggesting a plausible model of the prebiotic phosphorylation of sugars^1–3. This reaction has now been applied to the synthesis of glucose 1,6-diphosphate, starting either from α-D-glucose 1-phosphate or from D-glucose 6-phosphate. The formation of α-D-glucose 1,6-diphosphate from α-D-glucose 1-phosphate would indicate a possible route for the synthesis of this compound on the primitive Earth. It is known that α-D-glucose 1,6-diphosphate is the coenzyme in the inter-conversion of α-D-glucose 1-phosphate with glucose 6-phosphate catalysed by phosphoglucomutase*. The formation of α-D-glucose 1,6-diphosphate seems to be interesting in view of our model for the chemical evolution of the metabolism of sugars⁵, as it may connect α-D-glucose 1-phosphate with the glycolytic pathway.     

Effect of ammonium and other ions on the glucose-dependent active transport of l-histidine in slices of rat-brain cortex

1. The influence of cations on the active transport into cells of rat-brain-cortex slices of l-histidine, an amino acid that is not metabolized by this tissue, has been studied. 2. Like other amino acids, l-histidine accumulated in the cells in the presence of glucose in concentrations up to over double that in the incubation medium. 3. The active transport of l-histidine was highest in a medium containing Ca²⁺ (3mm). The addition of K⁺ (27mm) led to a marked decrease in the intracellular concentration of l-histidine, though the oxygen uptake of the slices was higher. 4. The active l-histidine transport was inhibited by NH₄⁺. The inhibitory effect increased with the NH₄⁺ concentration, being about 25% at 8mm, 65% at 20mm, and 90% at 27 and 50mm. The oxygen uptake of the brain slices was depressed by only 25% by the highest NH₄⁺ concentration used, and less by lower concentrations.     

K+-dependent 3H-d-glucose transport by hepatopancreatic brush border membrane vesicles of a marine shrimp

The effects of sodium, potassium, sugar inhibitors, and membrane potential on ³H-d-glucose uptake by hepatopancreatic epithelial brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) of the Atlantic marine shrimp, Litopenaeus setiferus, were investigated. Brush border membrane vesicles were prepared using a MgCl₂/EGTA precipitation method and uptake experiments were conducted using a high speed filtration technique. ³H-d-Glucose uptake was stimulated by both sodium and potassium and these transport rates were almost doubled in the presence of an inside-negative-induced membrane potential. Kinetics of ³H-d-glucose influx were hyperbolic functions of both external Na⁺ or K⁺, and an induced membrane potential increased influx J _max and lowered K_m in both salts. ³H-d-Glucose influx versus [glucose] in both Na⁺ or K⁺ media also displayed Michaelis–Menten properties that were only slightly affected by induced membrane potential. Phloridzin was a poor inhibitor of 0.5 mM ³H-d-glucose influx, requiring at least 5 mM in NaCl and 10 mM in KCl to significantly reduce hexose transport. Several sugars (d-galactose, α-methyl-d-gluco-pyranoside, unlabeled d-glucose, d-fructose, and d-mannose) were used at 75 mM as potential inhibitors of 0.1 mM ³H-d-glucose influx. Only unlabeled d-glucose, d-fructose, and d-mannose significantly (p < 0.05) reduced labeled glucose transport. An additional experiment using increasing concentrations of d-mannose (0, 10, 25, 75, and 100 mM) showed this hexose to be an effective inhibitor of 0.1 mM ³H-d-glucose uptake at concentrations of 75 mM and higher. As a whole these results suggest that ³H-d-glucose transport by hepatopancreatic BBMV occurs by a carrier system that is able to use both Na⁺ and K⁺ as drivers, is enhanced by membrane potential, is relatively refractory to phloridzin, and is only inhibited by itself, d-fructose, and d-mannose. These properties are similar to those exhibited by the mammalian SLC5A9/SGLT4 transporter, suggesting that an invertebrate analogue of this protein may occur in shrimp.     

Substrate specificity of the Bacillus licheniformis lyxose isomerase YdaE and its application in in vitro catalysis for bioproduction of lyxose and glucose by two-step isomerization

Enzymatic processes are useful for industrially important sugar production, and in vitro two-step isomerization has proven to be an efficient process in utilizing readily available sugar sources. A hypothetical uncharacterized protein encoded by ydaE of Bacillus licheniformis was found to have broad substrate specificities and has shown high catalytic efficiency on d-lyxose, suggesting that the enzyme is d-lyxose isomerase. Escherichia coli BL21 expressing the recombinant protein, of 19.5 kDa, showed higher activity at 40 to 45°C and pH 7.5 to 8.0 in the presence of 1.0 mM Mn²⁺. The apparent K_m values for d-lyxose and d-mannose were 30.4 ± 0.7 mM and 26 ± 0.8 mM, respectively. The catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) for lyxose (3.2 ± 0.1 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹) was higher than that for d-mannose (1.6 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹). The purified protein was applied to the bioproduction of d-lyxose and d-glucose from d-xylose and d-mannose, respectively, along with the thermostable xylose isomerase of Thermus thermophilus HB08. From an initial concentration of 10 mM d-lyxose and d-mannose, 3.7 mM and 3.8 mM d-lyxose and d-glucose, respectively, were produced by two-step isomerization. This two-step isomerization is an easy method for in vitro catalysis and can be applied to industrial production.