Acetate metabolism in the mammary gland of the lactating ewe

Acetate metabolism in the mammary gland of lactating ewes was studied by continuous infusion of radioisotopic [U-14C]sodium acetate and measurement of mammary gland arteriovenous difference and blood flow. Entry rate of acetate into the whole body averaged 75 +/- 7 mumol min-1 kg-1 liveweight and 22.1 +/- 2.7% of total CO2 production was derived from acetate. Acetate was both utilized and produced by the mammary gland. Acetate uptake was related linearly (r2 = 0.94) to arterial concentration and gross utilization of acetate accounted for 16.2 +/- 2.6% of whole-body entry rate. Endogenous acetate production by the mammary gland increased linearly (r2 = 0.90) as milk yield rose, and accounted for 25.6 +/- 2.7% of the gross mammary utilization of acetate. The proportion of mammary CO2 derived from acetate (22.5 +/- 3.9%) was similar to that of the whole body. The uptake of acetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, esterified fatty acids and plasma free fatty acids accounted for about 25, 13, 60 and 4% of milk fatty acid carbon respectively, after correction for the oxidation of acetate, but not of the other substrates. Metabolism of acetate in the mammary glands of lactating ewes appears quantitatively more important than that in cows, but similar to that in goats.     

Effect of thyroidectomy on pathways of glucose metabolism in lactating rat mammary gland

1. Assessment of the overall metabolic changes in lactating mammary gland after thyroidectomy has been made by measurement of the incorporation of (14)C from specifically labelled glucose, pyruvate and acetate into (14)CO(2) and (14)C-labelled lipid in the experimental rats and in sham-operated control animals. 2. Thyroidectomy depressed the oxidation of (14)C-labelled substrates, an effect still apparent when the control rats were pair-fed with thyroidectomized rats; however, the ratio of oxidation of [1-(14)C]glucose/oxidation of [6-(14)C]glucose was unaltered. In parallel with these studies it was revealed that the activities of hexokinase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and NADP-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase were all lower in the thyroidectomized group than in the pair-fed control group. 3. Thyroidectomy also lowered the incorporation of (14)C-labelled substrates into (14)C-labelled lipid, an effect further studied by measurement of the activities of citrate-cleavage enzyme and acetate thiokinase. Restricting the food intake of the control rats to that of the thyroidectomized group lowered the activity of citrate-cleavage enzyme, but no further depression was observed on thyroidectomy. The oxidized and reduced nicotinamide nucleotide content of mammary tissue was shown to be decreased in the thyroidectomized rats compared with the control rats.     

Pyruvate carboxylase in lactating rat and rabbit mammary gland

1. Pyruvate carboxylase [pyruvate-carbon dioxide ligase (ADP), EC 6.4.1.1] was found in cell-free preparations of lactating rat and rabbit mammary glands, and optimum assay conditions for this enzyme were determined. 2. Subcellular-fractionation studies with marker enzymes showed pyruvate carboxylase to be distributed between the mitochondrial and soluble fractions of lactating rat mammary gland. Evidence is presented that the soluble enzyme is not an artifact due to mitochondrial damage. 3. In contrast, pyruvate carboxylase in lactating rabbit mammary gland is confined to the mitochondrial fraction. 4. The final product of pyruvate carboxylase action in the mitochondrial and particle-free supernatant fractions of lactating rat mammary gland was shown to be citrate. 5. The effects of freeze-drying, ultrasonic treatment and freezing-and-thawing on the specific activity of mitochondrial pyruvate carboxylase were investigated.     

Simulation of the pentose cycle in lactating rat mammary gland

A computer model representing the pentose cycle, the tricarboxylic acid cycle and glycolysis in slices of lactating rat mammary glands has been constructed. This model is based primarily on the studies, with radioactive chemicals, of Abraham & Chaikoff (1959) [although some of the discrepant data of Katz & Wals (1972) could be accommodated by changing one enzyme activity]. Data obtained by using [1-(14)C]-, [6-(14)C]- and [3,4-(14)C]-glucose were simulated, as well as data obtained by using unlabelled glucose (for which some new experimental data are presented). Much past work on the pentose cycle has been mainly concerned with the division of glucose flow between the pentose cycle and glycolysis, and has relied on the assumption that the system is in steady state (both labelled and unlabelled). This assumption may not apply to lactating rat mammary glands, since the model shows that the percentage flow through the shunt progressively decreased for the first 2h of a 3h experiment, and we were unable to construct a completely steady-state model. The model allows examination of many quantitative features of the system, especially the amount of material passing through key enzymes, some of which appear to be regulated by NADP(+) concentrations as proposed by McLean (1960). Supplementary information for this paper has been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50023 at the British Museum (Lending Division) (formerly the National Lending Library for Science and Technology), Boston Spa, Yorks. LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on the terms indicated in Biochem. J. (1973) 131, 5.     

Metabolism of arginine in lactating rat mammary gland.

Significant activities of the four enzymes needed to convert arginine into proline and glutamate (arginase, ornithine aminotransferase, pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase and pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase) develop co-ordinately in lactating rat mammary glands in proportion to the increased production of milk. No enzymes were detected to carry out the reactions of proline oxidation or reduction of glutamate to pyrroline-5-carboxylate. Minces of the gland converted ornithine into proline and into glutamate plus glutamine. These conversions increased during the cycle of lactation in proportion to the increased milk production and to the content of the necessary enzymes. The minced gland did not convert labelled ornithine into citrulline, confirming the absence from the gland of a functioning urea cycle, and did not convert labelled proline or glutamate into ornithine. A metabolic flow of labelled arginine to proline and glutamate in mammary gland was confirmed in intact animals with experiments during which the specific radioactivity of proline in plasma remained below that of the proline being formed from labelled arginine within the gland. It was concluded that arginase in this tissue had a metabolic role in the biosynthesis of extra proline and glutamate needed for synthesis of milk proteins.     

Regulation of cAMP-dissociation kinetics in lactating rat mammary gland

The cAMP-dissociation kinetics of rat mammary gland cytosols are dependent upon the temperature of cAMP association. Dissociation rates (measured at pH 6.5, 24 degrees C) were biphasic (k = 0.08-0.23 min-1 and k = 0.02 min-1) and monophasic (k-1 = 0.02 min-1) after 0 degrees C and 24 degrees C association, respectively. The temperature-dependent change from an initial fast rate to an initial slow rate was observed at all concentrations of cAMP tested from 1 to 1000 nM. When the slow-dissociating site was associated with non-radioactive 8-bromo-cAMP, the dissociation rates of [3H]-cAMP from the remaining dissociating site was slow (k = 0.02 min-1) and fast (k = 0.05 min-1) at 24 degrees C and 0 degrees C associating rate can be converted to the slow-dissociating rate by warming. When 0.2 M sodium thiocyanate was added to the association mixture at 24 degrees C, biphasic dissociation rates of k = 0.23 min-1 and k = 0.02 min-1 were observed, suggesting that the chaotropic salt blocks the interconversion of rates. The data are consistent with the model for cAMP-dependent protein kinase which exhibits two binding sites with different affinities. The type II enzyme from mammary gland cytosol exhibits in addition the phenomenon of temperature-dependent interconversion of the two binding affinities.