Dynamics of energy charge and adenine nucleotides during uncoupling of catabolism and anabolism in Penicillium ochrochloron

Filamentous fungi are able to spill energy when exposed to energy excess by uncoupling catabolism from anabolism, e.g. via overflow metabolism. In current study we tested the hypothesis that overflow metabolism is regulated via the energetic status of the hyphae (i.e. energy charge, ATP concentration). This hypothesis was studied in Penicillium ochrochloron during the steady state of glucose- or ammonium-limited chemostat cultures as well as during three transient states ((i) glucose pulse to a glucose-limited chemostat, (ii) shift from glucose-limited to ammonium-limited conditions in a chemostat, and (iii) ammonium exhaustion in batch culture). Organic acids were excreted under all conditions, even during exponential growth in batch culture as well as under glucose-limited conditions in a chemostat. Partial uncoupling of catabolism and anabolism via overflow metabolism was thus constitutively present. Under all tested conditions, overflow metabolism was independent of the energy charge or the ATP concentration of the hyphae. There was a reciprocal correlation between glucose uptake rate and intracellular adenine nucleotide content. During all transients states a rapid decrease in energy charge and the concentrations of nucleotides was observed shortly after a change in glycolytic flux (“ATP paradoxon”). A possible connection between the change in adenine nucleotide concentrations and the purine salvage pathway is discussed.     

Effects of ammonium on energy metabolism and intracellular pH in guinea pig cerebral cortex studied by P and H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

³¹P and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used to study the effects of ammonium on high-energy phosphates, intracellular pH and lactate in guinea pig cerebral cortex in vitro. In the presence of glucose, 1 mM ammonium caused an intracellular acidification by 0.2–0.3 pH units without a change in phosphocreatine/ATP (PCr/ATP) ratio, lactate concentration or oxygen uptake. At concentrations of 5 mM or greater, NH₄⁺ caused an energy failure and an increase in tissue lactate, together with a drop in intracellular pH. A split in the inorganic phosphate resonance was observed during the exposure to both 20 mM NH₄⁺ and 20 mM K⁺ indicating heterogeneity of the volume-averaged intracellular pH. Cortical brain slices incubated in the presence of 10 mM lactate maintained PCr/ATP ratio and intracellular pH at similar levels as in the presence of glucose, but 1 mM NH₄⁺ caused a fall in PCr/ATP. Both 20 mM NH₄⁺ and 20 mM K⁺ stimulated oxygen uptake of the preparation with glucose or lactate as substrate. These results show that the only acute effect of 1 mM NH₄⁺ in the presence of glucose is an intracellular acidification whereas energetic consequences develop at high levels of this neurotoxic agent.     

The influence of energy deficiency-imposing conditions on the capacities ofAcetobacter methanolicus to oxidize glucose and to produce gluconic acid

The presence of dinitrophenol (DNP) during the chemostatic growth of Acetobacter methanolicuson glucose led to i) no significant increase in glucose dehydrogenase, ii) a decrease in the capacity to oxidize glucose by about 30%, not depending on the DNP concentration, and iii) a gradual decrease in the capacity to form gluconic acid, depending on the concentration of the uncoupler. Similar effects of DNP on Acetobacter methanolicuswere observed during the gluconic acid formation process. The loss in the capacity to form gluconic acid is indicated by a drop in the ATP concentration of the cells which cannot be counteracted by the ATP syntheses originating from the oxidation of gluconic acid and of glucose. ATP could be necessary for pumping protons out of the cells that were taken up together with gluconic acid and by the effect of DNP.     

A kinetic-metabolic model based on cell energetic state: study of CHO cell behavior under Na-butyrate stimulation

A kinetic-metabolic model approach describing and simulating Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell behavior is presented. The model includes glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, TCA cycle, respiratory chain, redox state and energetic metabolism. Growth kinetic is defined as a function of the major precursors for the synthesis of cell building blocks. Michaelis–Menten type kinetic is used for metabolic intermediates as well as for regulatory functions from energy shuttles (ATP/ADP) and cofactors (NAD/H and NADP/H). Model structure and parameters were first calibrated using results from bioreactor cultures of CHO cells expressing recombinant t-PA. It is shown that the model can simulate experimental data for all available experimental data, such as extracellular glucose, glutamine, lactate and ammonium concentration time profiles, as well as cell energetic state. A sensitivity analysis allowed identifying the most sensitive parameters. The model was then shown to be readily adaptable for studying the effect of sodium butyrate on CHO cells metabolism, where it was applied to the cases with sodium butyrate addition either at mid-exponential growth phase (48 h) or at the early plateau phase (74 h). In both cases, a global optimization routine was used for the simultaneous estimation of the most sensitive parameters, while the insensitive parameters were considered as constants. Finally, confidence intervals for the estimated parameters were calculated. Results presented here further substantiate our previous findings that butyrate treatment at mid-exponential phase may cause a shift in cellular metabolism toward a sustained and increased efficiency of glucose utilization channeled through the TCA cycle.     

Stabilization of the relative concentration of ATP and invariants in the regulation of erythrocyte energy metabolism

The problem is considered concerning the effect of individual differences of erythrocyte energetic metabolism parameters in the regulation (stablization) of ATP level. It has been found that equal quality of stabilization of relative ATP concentration (ATP/(AMP+ADP+ATP)) in erythrocytes with very different individual parameters is provided, firstly, by presence of scaling invariance of the characteristics of ATP-producing and ATP-consuming systems, and, secondly, by coincidence between the physiological values of ATP/(AMP+ADP+ATP) ratio for all the individuals. Scaling invariance property results in the essential reduction of the effective dimension of the individual parameters space. Revealed is a single parameter (function of all individual parameters), which defines the level of relative ATP concentration or the erythrocyte energy charge. The hypothesis is formulated that erythrocyte has two levels of energetic metabolism regulation, of which the first level is responsible for regulation of relative ATP concentration (due to the self-energy system functioning), while the second one provides (for a long time) regulation of the individual parameter values.     

Growth and energetics of Leuconostoc oenos during cometabolism of glucose with citrate or fructose.

The metabolic and energetic characterization of the growth of Leuconostoc oenos on glucose-citrate or glucose-fructose mixtures enables the potential role of this bacterium in the wine-making process to be ascertained. Moreover, mixotrophic conditions remain a suitable means for improving biomass productivities of malolactic starter cultures. When the malolactic bacterium L. oenos was grown in batch cultures on complex medium at pH 5.0 with glucose-citrate or glucose-fructose mixtures, enhancement of both the specific growth rate and biomass production yields was observed. While growth was possible on fructose as the sole source of energy, citrate alone did not allow subsequent biomass production. The metabolic interactions between the catabolic pathways of the glucose cosubstrates and the heterofermentation of hexoses led to an increased acetate yield as a result of modified NADH oxidation. However, the calculated global coenzyme regeneration showed that the reducing equivalent balance was never equilibrated. The stimulatory effects of these glucose cosubstrates on growth resulted from increased ATP synthesis by substrate-level phosphorylation via acetate kinase. While the energetic efficiency remained close to 10 g of biomass produced per mol of ATP, the increase in the specific growth rate and biomass production yields was directly related to the rate and yield of ATP generation.     

Carbon and energy balances in cell-recycle cultures of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

A strain of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe was aerobically grown in a cell-recycle fermentor under various operating conditions, i.e., different bleeding rates and various separate feed rates of glucose and basal medium. Carbon and energy balances were analyzed during steady-state culture regimes, allowing growth yields and maintenance coefficients to be determined under glucose-limited and glucose-excess environments. Special attention was given to the metabolic shift from purely oxidative to respirofermentative glucose catabolism resulting from a change in the growth-limiting factor. No maintenance requirements for the carbon source and for energy were observed during glucose-limited culture regimes and oxidative catabolism. Under glucose excess and respirofermentative metabolism, the m(G) coefficient was shown to be growth-linked, whereas the enhancement of the apparent m(e) coefficient observed for increased residual glucose concentrations could be assigned to a decline in the ATP yield. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

林肯链霉菌合成林可霉素代谢调节的研究

在摇瓶条件下研究了葡萄糖、铵盐、磷酸盐对林可霉素产生菌林肯链霉菌的生长及林可霉素生物合成的影响。发酵过程中林可霉素的合成主要发生在菌体生长期,逐渐下降。使用6%的葡萄糖未发现通常所说的“葡萄糖效应”。0.2%铵盐有利于细胞生长,但0.8%NH+4对林可霉素的生物合成具有抑制作用。发酵48h后补加0.6% NH^＋_４,对林可霉素的生成没有显著影响。0.05%～0.1%磷酸盐对林可霉素合成具有较强的抑制作用。并就磷酸盐对菌体由初级代谢转向次级代谢的作用作了初步考察。     

Growth energetics of an alkaline serine protease-producing strain of Bacillus clausii during continuous cultivation

Glucose-limited chemostats were used to determine the growth yields of biomass of Bacillus clausii PP 473-8 producing an alkaline serine protease Savinase (Novozymes A/S, Bagsværd, Denmark) and a low yield of biomass on oxygen was observed. The energy metabolism was investigated further by setting up simple stoichiometric models for growth on glucose and citrate. In order to determine the parameters in the models, a macromolecular biomass composition was determined based on measured values of protein and RNA combined with literature data. From the macromolecular composition of the biomass the theoretical co-factor and building block requirements needed for biomass formation were calculated. Using the stoichiometric models and data for growth on glucose and citrate the amount of ATP needed for biomass synthesis was estimated to 42.0 mmol ATP/gDW, the P/O ratio to 0.68 and the ATP maintenance to 2.93 mmol ATP/gDW/h. From these values it is concluded that the high oxygen consumption compared with other Bacillus species is due to a low efficiency in respiration resulting in a low P/O ratio. Finally, the energetic parameters were estimated for different architectures of the respiratory chain.     

Investigations on the function of creatine kinase in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

1. Growth and viability of in vitro cultured Ehrlich ascites tumor cells are not significantly impaired by exogenous creatine up to 40mM. Retardation of cell growth by higher concentrations depends on cell density. 2. Ehrlich cells grown in the presence of high concentrations of creatine accumulate creatine phosphate to high levels (up to 23 nmol/10(6) cells in the presence of 40mM creatine). 3. A nearly complete interruption of glycolytic ATP production or inhibition of the oxidative ATP synthesis reduces the maximal creatine to about 40-50% of controls. 4. Studies on the intracellular distribution of creatine kinase have shown, that the enzyme is only associated with the mitochondrial fraction. Titration of isolated mitochondria with digitonin revealed that the activity is located in the inter-membrane space and partly bound to the outer site of the inner membrane. 5. By growth of Ehrlich cells in creatine-free medium it is possible to obtain "creatine phosphate-depleted" cells (creatine phosphate less than 10% of controls). The growth of creatine phosphate-depleted cells as compared to controls is significantly reduced under energetic stress situations. The protein synthesis of these cells after an energetic stress (lack of glucose and oxygen) is significantly reduced as compared to creatine phosphate containing cells. 6. It is concluded that in these cells creatine kinase/creatine phosphate is a thermodynamic buffer system and not part of an energy shuttle as is postulated for muscle cells.     

An examination of the efficiency of glucose and glutamine as energy sources for cultured chick pigment epithelial cells

Embryonic chick pigment epithelial cells in culture require glucose as their major energy source for long-term growth, pigment formation, and colony organization. Cell number increases with glucose concentration at least up to 5.0 mM. Cells can be grown with glutamine as the major energy source but produce comparable cell numbers for only the first 3 days in culture, after which they cease growing. However, they are able to metabolize glutamine at a two to sixfoid higher rate than cells grown in the presence of glucose as measured by CO₂ release and by incorporation into protein. In cells grown in the presence of both glucose and glutamine, basal ATP levels were 31.1 nmoles/mg protein; P-creatine averaged 15.2 nmoles/mg protein and showed marked variability between experimental groups. During starvation, P-creatine levels fell while ATP levels remained relatively constant. Glucose was required for the recovery of P-creatine to prestarvation levels when measured 5 min after refeeding. Because of these marked changes in P-creatine concentration as a function of nutritional status, the ATP/P-creatine ratio becomes a useful measure of the energy state of the cell.     

Russian Article pp. 125–136

Transformation of mass indexes of microbial growth efficiency (the maximal yield and maintenance coefficient) into energetic ones is desribed. Energetic yield is expressed in terms of ATP expenditures for constructive metabolism, cell maintenance and other physiologo-energetic coefficients. From experimental data obtained during H. polymorpha cultivation on glucose, ethanol and methanol, it has been found that the growth-independent fraction of ATP expendditure for cell maintenance and futile dissipation (CMFD) is the same in all the three cases. The coefficient of the growth-dependent CMFD on glucose and methanol is approximately the same. Maximal energetic biomass yields on these substrates have been measured and the background of their differences is discussed.     

Relation between the energy parameters and the free pool of polyamines in Escherichia coli during synchronous growth

The cell cycle of Escherichia coli is characterised by synchronous oscillations in the levels of ATP and putrescine. Oscillations in the pool of putrescine are determined by ATP content which exerts a strong stimulating effect on the activity of ornithine decarboxylase, the key enzyme of polyamine synthesis. The results allow one to consider the system of polyamine synthesis as a point in the regulatory interaction (coupling) between the constructive and energetic types of E. coli metabolism.     

The effect of pH on nitrogen supply, cell lysis, and solvent production in fermentations of Clostridium acetobutylicum

In batch fermentations of C. acetobutylicum, with 5 g/L yeast extract and 50mM glucose, the ratio of ammonium to glucose affected solvent production when the pH was left to vary uncontrolled from 4.5 to 3.65. High solvent production was observed for a low ratio. When the pH was controlled at 4.5, only acids were produced for all ratio values. At a low ammonium-to-glucose ratio, solvents were produced when the pH was controlled at 3.7. Acids only were produced for a low ratio value at pH 4.0 or for a high ratio value at pH 3.7. In continuous cultures, mostly acids were produced under glucose limitation, but solvents were produced under nitrogen limitation. It was concluded that the nitrogen availability controls solvent production and that the pH affects the availability of organic nitrogen. Biomass autolysis at the stationary phase of batch cultures was reversibly inhibited at pH values less than 3.8. In batch fermentations, the overall molar growth yields on ATP (Y(ATP)) varied from 5.5 to 9.0 and the transient yields from 5.5 to 15.5. In continuous cultures, the Y(ATP) values varied from 5.5 to 14.7 under glucose limitation, and from 6.1 to 9.3 under nitrogen limitation. The Y(ATP) depended on the ammonium to glucose ratio and the culture pH, but did not show the usual dependence on the specific growth rate in batch cultures. The experiments seem to confirm the hypothesis that solvent production is controlled by the demand and availability of ATP.     

Effects of L-carnitine and its acetyl and propionyl esters on ATP and PCr levels of isolated rat hearts perfused without fatty acids and investigated by means of 31P-NMR spectroscopy

³¹P-NMR in vivo spectroscopy is a non-invasive and non-hazardous technique which investigates chemical composition and metabolism of living objects, for example by determining phosphocreatine (PCr) and ATP concentrations. In the present study we investigated the influence of L-carnitine, acetyl-L-carnitine and propionyl-L-carnitine on the energetic state of the Langendorff rat heart subjected to an ischemic period of 20 min followed by a reperfusion period of 60 min. To avoid an overlapping of the effects of fatty acids and glucose, the hearts were perfused with a Tyrode solution containing no fatty acids. Ischemia causes a rapid decrease in the PCr signal, followed by a decrease in the ATP signal after a prolonged period of ischemia. At the same time, a drastic increase in the P_i signal was observed. A partial recovery of the ATP and PCr signals was observed in the reperfusion period. With L-carnitine a markedly improved recovery of the high energy phosphates (e.g. increased PCr/P_i ratios) was found. With acetyl-L-carnitine this effect was enhanced in the first postischemic phase. It was followed, however, by a more rapid decrease in the PCr/P_i ratio in the late reperfusion period. The effect of propionyl-L-carnitine was not significantly improved in the first minutes of the reperfusion period, but during the whole reperfusion phase a stabilization of the PCr/P_i ratio was observed. Intracellular pH can be calculated from determination of the P_i-chemical shift. This shows that L-carnitine and its derivatives have a protective effect against intracellular pH decrease during ischemia. L-carnitine improves the energetic state of the heart, which leads to increased ischemia tolerance. Hearts under L-carnitine were able to tolerate up to four ischemia-reperfusion periods in succession, whereas the controls were not able to do so. These NMR results confirm the hypothesis that L-carnitine and its esters have a protective effect in the reperfusion period of the ischemic rat heart. This could be of importance for the treatment of ischemic cardiac diseases.     

Substrate and energy costs of the production of exocellular enzymes by Bacillus licheniformis

Substrate and energy costs of the production of exocellular enzymes from glucose and citrate by B. Iicheniformis S1684 as well as molar growth yields corrected for these costs of product formation were calculated using data from chemostat experiments. The calculations showed that 1.46-1.73 mol glucose and 2.31-2.77 mol citrate are needed for formation and excretion of 1 mol protein. Consequently, the values of the maximal product yield from substrate (Y(psm') g/mol) are 80 < Y(psm) < 95 when product is formed from glucose and 50 < Y(psm) < 60 when product is formed from citrate. The higher substrate costs for product formation from citrate are due to a higher level of CO(2) production during protein formation and a higher substrate requirement for the energy supply of product formation and excretion than when product is formed from glucose. The theoretical ATP requirement for protein synthesis could be determined reasonably well, but the energy costs of protein excretion could not be determined exactly. The energy costs of protein formation are higher than those of biomass formation or protein excretion. Molar growth yields corrected for the substrate costs of product formation were high, indicating a high efficiency of growth.Growth and production parameters were determined as well from experimental data of recycling fermentor experiments using a parameter optimization procedure based on a mathematical model describing biomass growth as a linear function of the substrate consumption rate and the rate of product formation as a linear function of biomass growth rate. The fitting procedure yielded two growth and production domains during glucose limitation. In the first domain the values for the maximal growth yield and maintenance coefficient were in agreement with those found in chemostat experiments at corresponding values of Y(spm). Domain 2 could be described best with linear growth and product formation. In domain 2 the rate of product formation decreased and more substrate became available for biomass formation. As a consequence the specific growth rate increased in the shift from domain 1 to 2. Domain 2 behavior most probably is caused by the rel-status of B. Iicheniformis S1684.     

Rb+ influx in response to changes in energy generation: effect of the regulation of the ATP content of HeLa cells

The effect of changes in energy metabolism on Rb+ influx was studied in HeLa cells. Irrespective of whether ATP production was controlled by varying the activity of glycolysis or of oxidative metabolism on addition of certain combinations of glucose, carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, monoiodoacetic acid, and quercetin, Rb+ influx changed as a linear function of the ATP content, which varied in a wide range up to the normal level (15-20 nmol/mg protein or 3-4 mM). The difference between results obtained by these procedures was not significant. As the intracellular Na+ content varied at different ATP contents, the Na+ content was adjusted to similar levels by chilling the cells with varying ATP contents. However, a linear relation was still observed. A similar dependence was also obtained for cytoplasmic ATP, which would be more closely connected with the Na,K-pump than total ATP. The ratio of ouabain-sensitive Rb+ influx to the corresponding part of lactate production was nearly 2 in the presence of 2 mM glucose. From these results it is concluded that (1) active Rb+ influx, which is chiefly maintained by energy generated through glycolysis, can also be supported by oxidative metabolism; (2) Rb+ influx is regulated linearly as a function of the cellular ATP content up to the control level; but does not increase if ATP is raised still further; and (3) 2 Rb+ ions move concomitantly at the expense of one ATP molecule.     

Osteoclast precursors display dynamic metabolic shifts toward accelerated glucose metabolism at an early stage of RANKL-stimulated osteoclast differentiation.

Mature osteoclasts have an increased citric acid cycle and mitochondrial respiration to generate high ATP production and ultimately lead to bone resorption. However, changes in metabolic pathways during osteoclast differentiation have not been fully illustrated. We report that glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation characterized by glucose and oxygen consumption as well as lactate production were increased during receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis from RAW264.7 and bone marrow-derived macrophage cells. Cell proliferation and differentiation varied according to glucose concentrations (0 to 100 mM). Maximal cell growth occurred at 20 mM glucose concentration and differentiation occurred at 5 mM concentration. Despite the similar growth rates exhibited when cultured cells were exposed to either 5 mM or 40 mM glucose, their differentiation was markedly decreased in high glucose concentrations. This finding suggests the possibility that osteoclastogenesis could be regulated by changes in metabolic substrate concentrations. To further address the effect of metabolic shift on osteoclastogenesis, we exposed cultured cells to pyruvate, which is capable of promoting mitochondrial respiration. Treatment of pyruvate synergistically increased osteoclastogenesis through the activation of RANKL-stimulated signals (ERK and JNK). We also found that osteoclastogenesis was retarded by blocking ATP production with either the inhibitors of mitochondrial complexes, such as rotenone and antimycin A, or the inhibitor of ATP synthase, oligomycin. Taken together, these results indicate that glucose metabolism during osteoclast differentiation is accelerated and that a metabolic shift towards mitochondrial respiration allows high ATP production and induces enhanced osteoclast differentiation.     

Biosensors based on the energy metabolism of living cells: the physical chemistry and cell biology of extracellular acidification.

The silicon microphysiometer is a biosensor-based instrument that detects changes in the physiological state of cultured living cells by monitoring the rate at which the cells excrete acidic products of metabolism. This paper discusses the chemical and biological factors that determine the performance and applications of such a system. Under typical culture conditions, extracellular acidification is dominated by the excretion of lactic and carbonic acids formed during the energy metabolism, using glucose and glutamine as carbon sources. The maintenance of transmembrane ionic gradients is an important use of energy, as is cell growth. The activation of cellular receptors usually causes transient or sustained increases in acidification rate. The energetic cost of generating second messengers is probably too small to account for either change, so events more distal to the receptor-activation process must be responsible. The opening of ion channels may cause the increases in some cases. In others, changes in intracellular pH and loose coupling between ATP hydrolysis and synthesis may be involved; models for these processes are presented.