Ketone-body metabolism after partial hepatectomy in the rat.

Fed or 24 h-starved rats were subjected to two-thirds partial hepatectomy or sham-operation and subsequently starved for 4, 14 or 24 h. Despite high plasma fatty acid concentrations, the partially hepatectomized rats failed to respond to post-operative starvation with increased blood and liver ketone-body concentrations or to maintain the high ketone-body concentrations associated with pre-operative starvation. Hypoglycaemia and hyperlactaemia were observed within 30 min of functional hepatectomy, but not partial hepatectomy, of 24 h-starved rats, and, even after a further 24 h starvation of partially hepatectomized rats, blood glucose concentrations were only slightly decreased. The results are discussed with reference to fat oxidation and gluconeogenesis in the liver remaining after partial hepatectomy.     

The relationship between fat synthesis and oxidation in the liver after re-feeding and its regulation by thyroid hormone.

The administration of glucose to 48 h-starved euthyroid or hyperthyroid rats led to decreased blood concentrations of fatty acids and ketone bodies in both groups, but fatty acid concentrations were higher and ketone-body concentrations lower in the latter group. Decreased ketonaemia was not due to increased ketone-body clearance. Flux through carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 was increased, consistent with the effects of hyperthyroidism on enzyme activity demonstrated in vitro. Correlations between the concentrations of ketone bodies and long-chain acylcarnitine measured in freeze-clamped liver samples indicated that a lower proportion of the product of beta-oxidation was used for ketone-body synthesis. Citrate concentrations were unaffected by hyperthyroidism, but lipogenesis was increased. The results are discussed in relation to the factors controlling hepatic carbon flux and energy requirements after re-feeding.     

Effects of adrenaline on ketogenesis from long- and medium-chain fatty acids in starved rats.

1. Injection of adrenaline into 24 h-starved rats caused a 69% decrease in blood [ketone-body] (3-hydroxybutyrate plus acetoacetate), accompanied by a decreased [3-hydroxybutyrate]/[acetoacetate] ratio. Blood [glucose] and [lactate] increased, but [alanine] was unchanged. 2. Adrenaline also decreased [ketone-body] after intragastric feeding of both long- and medium-chain triacylglycerol. The latter decrease was observed after suppression of lipolysis with 5-methylpyrazole-3-carboxylic acid, indicating that the antiketogenic action of adrenaline was not dependent on the chain length of the precursor fatty acid. 3. The actions of adrenaline to decrease blood [ketone-body] and to increase blood [glucose] were not observed after administration of 3-mercaptopicolinate, an inhibitor of gluconeogenesis. This suggests that these effects of the hormone are related. 4. The possible clinical significance of the results is discussed with reference to the restricted ketosis often observed after surgical or orthopaedic injury.     

The effects of inhibition of gluconeogenesis on ketogenesis in starved and diabetic rats.

Experiments were performed in which the effects of inhibiting gluconeogenesis on ketone-body formation were examined in vivo in starved and severely streptozotocin-diabetic rats. The infusion of 3-mercaptopicolinate, an inhibitor of gluconeogenesis (DiTullio et al., 1974), caused decreases in blood [glucose] and increases in blood [lactate] and [pyruvate] in both normal and ketoacidotic rats. Patterns of liver gluconeogenic intermediates after 3-mercaptopicolinate infusion suggested inhibition at the level of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. This was confirmed by measurement of hepatic oxaloacetate concentrations which were increased 5-fold after 3-mercaptopicolinate administration. The infusion of 3-mercaptopicolinate caused a decrease in total ketone-body concentrations of 30% in starved rats and 73% in the diabetic animals. Blood glycerol and hepatic triglyceride concentrations remained unchanged. The decreases in ketone-body concentrations were associated with increases in the calculated hepatic cytosolic and mitochondrial [NADH]/[NAD+] ratios. The decrease in ketogenesis seen after inhibition of gluconeogenesis may have resulted from an inhibition of hepatic fatty acid oxidation by the more reduced mitochondrial redox state. It was concluded that gluconeogenesis may stimulate ketogenesis by as much as 30% in severe diabetic ketoacidosis.     

The role of leucine in ketogenesis in starved rats.

The quantitative significance of the conversion in vivo of L-[U-14C]leucine to ketone bodies was determined in rats starved for 3 or 48 h. In animals starved for 3 h, 4.4% of ketone-body carbon is derived from the metabolism of leucine, and in rats starved for 48 h the corresponding value is 2.3%. This conversion occurs rapidly, and the specific radioactivity of ketone bodies in blood is maximal at 2 min after the intravenous injection of labelled leucine for both periods of starvation. The flux of leucine in the blood is 1.01 and 1.04 mumol/min per 100 g body wt. respectively for animals starved for 3 and 48 h. The specific radioactivity of blood ketone bodies was compared at 2 min after the injection of labelled leucine, lysine and phenylalanine. The specific radioactivity was 4-5 fold higher with leucine than with lysine or phenylalanine.     

Metabolic interactions of dichloroacetate and insulin in experimental diabetic ketoacidosis.

1. The infusion of sodium dichloroacetate into rats with severe diabetic ketoacidosis over 4h caused a 2mM decrease in blood glucose, and small falls in blood lactate and pyruvate concentrations. Similar findings had been reported in normal rats (Blackshear et al., 1974). In contrast there was a marked decrease in blood ketone-body concentration in the diabetic ketoacidotic rats after dichloroacetate treatment. 2. The infusion of insulin alone rapidly decreased blood glucose and ketone bodies, but caused an increase in blood lactate and pyruvate. 3. Dichloroacetate did not affect the response to insulin of blood glucose and ketone bodies, but abolished the increase of lactate and pyruvate seen after insulin infusion. 4. Neither insulin nor dichloroacetate stimulated glucose disappearance after functional hepatectomy, but both agents decreased the accumulation in blood of lactate, pyruvate and alanine. 5. Dichloroacetate inhibited 3-hydroxybutyrate uptake by the extra-splachnic tissues; insulin reversed this effect. Ketone-body production must have decreased, as hepatic ketone-body content was unchanged by dicholoracetate yet blood concentrations decreased. 6. It was concluded that: (a) dichloroacetate had qualitatively similar effects on glucose metabolism in severely ketotic rats to those observed in non-diabetic starved animals; (b) insulin and dichloroacetate both separately and together, decreased the net release of lactate, pyruvate and alanine from the extra-splachnic tissues, possibly through a similar mechanism; (c) insulin reversed the inhibition of 3-hydroxybutyrate uptake caused by dichloroacetate; (d) dichloroacetate inhibited ketone-body production in severe ketoacidosis.     

Nicotinamide nucleotide synthesis in regenerating rat liver

1. The concentrations and total content of the nicotinamide nucleotides were measured in the livers of rats at various times after partial hepatectomy and laparotomy (sham hepatectomy) and correlated with other events in the regeneration process. 2. The NAD content and concentration in rat liver were relatively unaffected by laparotomy, but fell to a minimum, 25 and 33% below control values respectively, 24h after partial hepatectomy. NADP content and concentration were affected similarly by both laparotomy and partial hepatectomy, falling rapidly and remaining depressed for up to 48h. 3. The effect of injecting various doses of nicotinamide on the liver DNA and NAD 18h after partial hepatectomy was studied and revealed an inverse correlation between NAD content and DNA content. 4. Injections of nicotinamide at various times after partial hepatectomy revealed that the ability to synthesize NAD from nicotinamide was impaired during the first 12h, rose to a peak at 26h and fell again by 48h after partial hepatectomy. 5. The total liver activity of NAD pyrophosphorylase (EC 2.7.7.1) remained at or slightly above the initial value for 12h after partial hepatectomy and then rose continuously until 48h after operation. The activity of NMN pyrophosphorylase (EC 2.4.2.12) showed a similar pattern of change after partial hepatectomy, but was at no time greater than 5% of the activity of NAD pyrophosphorylase. 6. The results are discussed with reference to the control of NAD synthesis in rapidly dividing tissue. It is suggested that the availability of cofactors and substrates for NAD synthesis is more important as a controlling factor than the maximum enzyme activities. It is concluded that the low concentrations of nicotinamide nucleotides in rapidly dividing tissues are the result of competition between NAD synthesis and nucleic acid synthesis for common precursor and cofactors.     

Ketone-body metabolism in tumour-bearing rats.

During starvation for 72 h, tumour-bearing rats showed accelerated ketonaemia and marked ketonuria. Total blood [ketone bodies] were 8.53 mM and 3.34 mM in tumour-bearing and control (non-tumour-bearing) rats respectively (P less than 0.001). The [3-hydroxybutyrate]/[acetoacetate] ratio was 1.3 in the tumour-bearing rats, compared with 3.2 in the controls at 72 h (P less than 0.001). Blood [glucose] and hepatic [glycogen] were lower at the start of starvation in tumour-bearing rats, whereas plasma [non-esterified fatty acids] were not increased above those in the control rats during starvation. After functional hepatectomy, blood [acetoacetate], but not [3-hydroxybutyrate], decreased rapidly in tumour-bearing rats, whereas both ketone bodies decreased, and at a slower rate, in the control rats. Blood [glucose] decreased more rapidly in the hepatectomized control rats. Hepatocytes prepared from 72 h-starved tumour-bearing and control rats showed similar rates of ketogenesis from palmitate, and the distribution of [1-14C] palmitate between oxidation (ketone bodies and CO2) and esterification was also unaffected by tumour-bearing, as was the rate of gluconeogenesis from lactate. The carcinoma itself showed rapid rates of glycolysis and a poor ability to metabolize ketone bodies in vitro. The results are consistent with the peripheral, normal, tissues in tumour-bearing rats having increased ketone-body and decreased glucose metabolic turnover rates.     

Metabolic effects of vasopressin infusion in the starved rat. Reversal of ketonaemia.

The effects of vasopressin on the metabolism of starved rats were investigated by using a constant-infusion regimen (50 pmol/kg body wt. per min, after an initial loading dose of 150 pmol/kg body wt.). 2. Blood ketone bodies decreased by 50% in 10 min, and this was accompanied by a 60% decrease in the plasma non-esterified fatty acids. 3. Blood glucose increased by 0.9 mM within 5 min and decreased to control values over the 40 min infusion. Small increases in lactate and pyruvate also occurred. 4. Plasma insulin was not increased by vasopressin infusion. 5. The net decrease in blood ketone bodies caused by vasopressin was similar when somatostatin was infused simultaneously (1 nmol/kg body wt. per min). 6. Hepatic ketone bodies were significantly decreased by vasopressin, as was the 3-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate ratio. A small increase in the hepatic concentration of several glycolytic intermediates also occurred. 7. Vasopressin did not decrease the ketonaemia produced by infusions of octanoate or long-chain triacylglycerol in rats that had been pre-treated with the anti-lipolytic agent 3,5-dimethylpyrazole. 8. In comparison with vasopressin, the infusion of adrenaline or glucose had much smaller effects in decreasing the ketonaemia of starvation, despite the 4-fold increase in plasma insulin, at 10 min, with the glucose infusion. 9. The primary metabolic effect of vasopressin in the starved rat appears to be that of decreased supply of non-esterified fatty acid to the liver. It is suggested that vasopressin has a direct anti-lipolytic effect in adipose tissue.     

Interactions of inhibitors of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I and fibrates in cultured hepatocytes.

Culture of rat hepatocytes with etomoxir, an inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I), for 48 h, resulted in increased carnitine acetyltransferase (CAT) activity (74%), a marked decrease in CPT activity (82%) measured in detergent extracts, and increased activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (227%) and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (65%). Changes in CAT and CPT activities were not observed after 4 h culture with etomoxir. When hepatocytes were cultured with etomoxir and benzafibrate (a hypolipidaemic analogue of clofibrate) for 48 h, etomoxir prevented the 5-fold increase in CAT activity caused by bezafibrate, whereas bezafibrate suppressed the increase in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and fructose-bisphosphatase caused by etomoxir. However, bezafibrate did not prevent the suppression of CPT activity by etomoxir. Etomoxir inhibited palmitate beta-oxidation and ketogenesis after short-term (0-4 h) and long-term (48 h) exposure, but it caused accumulation of triacylglycerol in hepatocytes only after short-term exposure (0-4 h). These effects of etomoxir on fatty acid metabolism and suppression of CPT (after 48 h) were similar in periportal and perivenous hepatocytes, but the increases in CAT and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities were higher in periportal than in perivenous cells. The effects of CPT I inhibitors on CAT activity and long-term suppression of CPT activity are probably mediated by independent mechanisms.     

Time-dependence of inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I by malonyl-CoA in mitochondria isolated from livers of fed or starved rats. Evidence for transition of the enzyme between states of low and high affinity for malonyl-CoA.

The degree of inhibition of CPT I (carnitine palmitoyltransferase, EC 2.3.1.21) in isolated rat liver mitochondria by malonyl-CoA was studied by measuring the activity of the enzyme over a short period (15s) after exposure of the mitochondria to malonyl-CoA for different lengths of time. Inhibition of CPT I by malonyl-CoA was markedly time-dependent, and the increase occurred at the same rate in the presence or absence of palmitoyl-CoA (80 microM), and in the presence of carnitine, such that the time-course of acylcarnitine formation deviated markedly from linearity when CPT I activity was measured in the presence of malonyl-CoA over several minutes. The initial rate of increase in degree of inhibition with time was independent of malonyl-CoA concentration. CPT I in mitochondria from 48 h-starved rats had a lower degree of inhibition by malonyl-CoA at zero time, but was equally capable of being sensitized to malonyl-CoA, as judged by an initial rate of increase of inhibition identical with that of the enzyme in mitochondria from fed rats. Double-reciprocal plots for the degree of inhibition produced by different malonyl-CoA concentrations at zero time for the enzyme in mitochondria from fed or starved animals indicated that the enzyme in the latter mitochondria was predominantly in a state with low affinity for malonyl-CoA (concentration required to give 50% inhibition, I0.5 congruent to 10 microM), whereas that in mitochondria from fed rats displayed two distinct sets of affinities: low (congruent to 10 microM) and high (less than 0.3 microM). Plots for mitochondria after incubation for 0.5 or 1 min with malonyl-CoA indicated that the increased sensitivity observed with time was due to a gradual increase in the high-affinity state in both types of mitochondria. These results suggest that the sensitivity of CPT I in rat liver mitochondria in vitro had two components: (i) an instantaneous sensitivity inherent to the enzyme which depends on the nutritional state of the animal from which the mitochondria are isolated, and (ii) a slow, malonyl-CoA-induced, time-dependent increase in sensitivity. It is suggested that the rate of malonyl-CoA-induced sensitization of the enzyme to malonyl-CoA inhibition is limited by a slow first-order process, which occurs after the primary event of interaction of malonyl-CoA with the mitochondria.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Glycolytic isoenzymes and glycogen metabolism in regenerating liver from rats on controlled feeding schedules

Intact rats trained on a controlled feeding and lighting schedule designated ;8+16' exhibited diurnal oscillations in liver weight, glucokinase activity and liver glycogen content. Glucokinase activity expressed as units/g of liver decreased to 30% of that from unoperated controls during the first 48h after partial hepatectomy and returned to near normal values in 2 weeks. When the glucokinase activity was expressed as units/liver per 100g body wt., a decrease to 50% of control activity was observed between 24 and 48h after the operation. A similar pattern was found for pyruvate kinase type I. In contrast, pyruvate kinase type III activity increased after partial hepatectomy. It is suggested that the newly divided cells after partial hepatectomy do not synthesize glucokinase and pyruvate kinase I but do synthesize pyruvate kinase III. Glycogen was found to accumulate as early as 24h after partial hepatectomy, and normal concentrations were reached after 48h if the operation was performed at times other than during the feeding periods.     

The inhibition in vivo of lipoprotein lipase (clearing-factor lipase) activity by triton WR-1339.

1. Lipoprotein lipase activity was measured in heart homogenates and in heparin-releasable and non-releasable fractions of isolated perfused rat hearts, after the intravenous injection of Triton WR-1339. 2. In homogenates of hearts from starved, rats, lipoprotein lipase activity was significantly inhibited (P less than 0.001) 2h after the injection of Triton. This inhibition was restricted exclusively to the heparin-releasable fraction. Maximum inhibition occurred 30 min after the injection and corresponded to about 60% of the lipoprotein lipase activity that could be released from the heart during 30 s perfusion with heparin. 3. Hearts of Triton-treated starved rats were unable to take up and utilize 14C-labelled chylomicron triacylglycerol fatty acids, even though about 40% of heparin-releasable activity remained in the hearts. 4. It is concluded that Triton selectively inhibits the functional lipoprotein lipase, i.e. the enzyme directly involved in the hydrolysis of circulating plasma triacylglycerols. 5. Lipoprotein lipase activities measured in homogenates of soleus muscle of starved rats and adipose tissue of fed rats were decreased by 25 and 39% respectively after Triton injection. It is concluded that, by analogy with the heart, these Triton-inhibitable activities correspond to the functional lipoprotein lipase.     

Receptor-mediated gonadotropin action in ovary. Differential effects of various gangliosides and cholera enterotoxin on 125I-choriogonadotropin binding, production of adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate and steroidogenesis in rat ovarian cells.

Poly(A)-containing RNA isolated from liver nuclei of untreated rats and 3 h or 12 h after partial hepatectomy or sham operation was hybridized to the complementary DNAs (cDNAs). In the homologous reactions two major components could be seen. When compared to normal liver, the complexity of the least abundant class was lower in nuclei from livers 3 h after partial hepatectomy and was higher in those isolated 12 h after operation. The heterologous reactions revealed an increase of some abundant poly(A)-containing sequences and a loss or dilution of rare sequences 3 h after operation. The latter effect was not specific to the regeneration process but occurred after laparotomy as well. 12 h after partial hepatectomy, however, about 10% new poly(A)-containing sequences were detected, corresponding to about 5000 molecules of 4500 nucleotides length, which are unique to regenerating nuclei.     

Altered release of carnitine palmitoyltransferase activity by digitonin from liver mitochondria of rats in different physiological states.

The release of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) activity from rat liver mitochondria by increasing concentrations of digitonin was studied for mitochondrial preparations from fed, 48 h-starved and diabetic animals. A bimodal release of activity was observed only for mitochondria isolated from starved and, to a lesser degree, from diabetic rats, and it appeared to result primarily from the enhanced release of approx. 40% and 60%, respectively, of the total CPT activity. This change in the pattern of release was specific to CPT among the marker enzymes studied. For all three types of mitochondria there was no substantial release of CPT concurrently with that of the marker enzyme for the soluble intermembrane space, adenylate kinase. These results illustrate that the bimodal pattern of release of CPT reported previously for mitochondria from starved rats [Bergstrom & Reitz (1980) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 204, 71-79] is not an immutable consequence of the localization of CPT activity on either side of the mitochondrial inner membrane. Sequential loss of CPT I (i.e. the overt form) from the mitochondrial inner membrane did not affect the concentration of malonyl-CoA required to effect fractional inhibition of the CPT I that remained associated with the mitochondria. The results are discussed in relation to the possibility that altered enzyme-membrane interactions may account for some of the altered regulatory properties of CPT I in liver mitochondria of animals in different physiological states.     

Overexpression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I in skeletal muscle in vivo increases fatty acid oxidation and reduces triacylglycerol esterification

A key regulatory point in the control of fatty acid (FA) oxidation is thought to be transport of FAs across the mitochondrial membrane by carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I). To investigate the role of CPT I in FA metabolism, we used in vivo electrotransfer (IVE) to locally overexpress CPT I in muscle of rodents. A vector expressing the human muscle isoform of CPT I was electrotransferred into the right lateral muscles of the distal hindlimb [tibialis cranialis (TC) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL)] of rats, and a control vector expressing GFP was electrotransferred into the left muscles. Initial studies showed that CPT I protein expression peaked 7 days after IVE (+104%, P<0.01). This was associated with an increase in maximal CPT I activity (+30%, P < 0.001) and a similar increase in palmitoyl-CoA oxidation (+24%; P<0.001) in isolated mitochondria from the TC. Importantly, oxidation of the medium-chain FA octanoyl-CoA and CPT I sensitivity to inhibition by malonyl-CoA were not altered by CPT I overexpression. FA oxidation in isolated EDL muscle strips was increased with CPT I overexpression (+28%, P<0.01), whereas FA incorporation into the muscle triacylglycerol (TAG) pool was reduced (-17%, P<0.01). As a result, intramyocellular TAG content was decreased with CPT I overexpression in both the TC (-25%, P<0.05) and the EDL (-45%, P<0.05). These studies demonstrate that acute overexpression of CPT I in muscle leads to a repartitioning of FAs away from esterification and toward oxidation and highlight the importance of CPT I in regulating muscle FA metabolism.     

Effects of partial hepatectomy on RNA polymerase activities in mouse liver

Chromatin-bound and poly[d(A-T)]dependent RNA polymerase I plus III and II activities of mouse liver were analysed 24 and 48 hr after partial hepatectomy. Chromatin-bound RNA polymerase I plus III activity showed an increase of 57% at 24 hr and 51% at 48 hr after partial hepatectomy. There was a decrease in chromatin-bound RNA polymerase II activity of 15% at 24 hr and 34% at 48 hr after partial hepatectomy. There was no significant changes in poly[d(A-T)]dependent RNA polymerase activities. Heparin caused an approximately 10-fold increase in chromatin-bound RNA polymerase II activity. The stimulation by heparin was significantly increased 48 h after partial hepatectomy. Anaesthesia and/or surgery had great influence on RNA polymerase activities. At 24 hr after operation, chromatin-bound RNA polymerase I plus III and II activities were depressed, and the liver cell chromatin was more susceptible to stimulation by heparin.     

Compensatory route of spermidine acetylation and oxidation can supply sufficient putrescine for hepatic DNA synthesis at an early stage after partial hepatectomy in diaminopropane-treated rats

Hepatic ornithine decarboxylase activity in rats increased 2 h after partial hepatectomy, showing two peaks at 4 and 10 h. When the rats received 1,3-diaminopropane (DAP) from 0 to 4 h or from 6 to 10 h, this increase was suppressed at 6 or 12 h, respectively, whereas hepatic spermidine N1-acetyltransferase activity was enhanced by DAP administration at 6 as well as 12 h, though the levels at 12 h were one-fifth of those at 6 h. An increase in hepatic DNA synthesis at 22 h did not occur in the rats given DAP from 6 to 10 h. It recovered after administration of putrescine, but not that of spermidine. In contrast, such an inhibition was not seen in the rats given DAP from 0 to 4 h; it occurred when quinacrine, a polyamine oxidase inhibitor, was concomitantly dosed, and disappeared with further addition of putrescine. Hepatic DNA synthesis changed in close association with hepatic putrescine content irrespective of spermidine and spermine contents in these rats. Putrescine may be essential for liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy, and can be produced in sufficient quantity to support hepatic DNA synthesis by the compensatory route of spermidine acetylation and oxidation when ornithine decarboxylase activity is suppressed at an early stage.     

Effect of triiodothyronine or etiroxate on DNA synthesis in intact and regenerating liver

An increase in liver DNA synthesis (p less than 0.01) was found in rats with an intact liver 24 h after the administration of a single dose of triiodothyronine (200 micrograms/kg i.g.) Statistically significant stimulation of DNA synthesis was also found in rats given triiodothyronine (p less than 0.01) or etiroxate (p less than 0.05) for 3 days at 24-hour intervals. When a single dose of triiodothyronine was administered immediately after partial hepatectomy (65-70% resection of the liver), increased stimulation of DNA synthesis (p less than 0.01) was found 24 h after the operation. Etiroxate partly inhibited DNA synthesis (p less than 0.05). In rats given triiodothyronine at 24-h intervals, starting at the time of partial hepatectomy, DNA synthesis 72 h after the operation was double the value in the control group. Marked stimulation of DNA synthesis by triiodothyronine (p less than 0.01) and an increase in the total DNA content of the liver (p less than 0.05) were likewise found 48 h after partial hepatectomy if the hormone was administered once, 24 h after the operation. The increase in the two indicators after the administration of etiroxate was not statistically significant.     

Changes in the ability of malonyl-CoA to inhibit carnitine palmitoyltransferase I activity and to bind to rat liver mitochondria during incubation in vitro. Differences in binding at 0 degree C and 37 degrees C with a fixed concentration of malonyl-CoA.

Time courses for inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) I activity in, and [14C]malonyl-CoA binding to, liver mitochondria from fed or 48 h-starved rats were obtained at 37 degrees C by using identical incubation conditions and a fixed concentration of malonyl-CoA (3.5 microM), which represents the middle of the physiological range observed previously [Zammit (1981) Biochem. J. 198, 75-83] Incubation of mitochondria in the absence of malonyl-CoA resulted in a time-dependent decrease in the ability of the metabolite instantaneously to inhibit CPT I and to bind to the mitochondria. Both degree of inhibition and binding were restored in parallel over a period of 6-8 min on subsequent addition of malonyl-CoA to the incubation medium. However, the increased inhibition of CPT I activity on addition of mitochondria directly to malonyl-CoA-containing medium was not accompanied by an increase in the amount of [14C]malonyl-CoA bound to mitochondria at 37 degrees C. Time courses for binding of [14C]malonyl-CoA performed at 0 degree C were different from those obtained at 37 degrees C. There was little loss of ability of [14C]malonyl-CoA to bind to mitochondria on incubation in the absence of the metabolite, but there was a time-dependent increase in binding on addition of mitochondria to malonyl-CoA-containing medium. It is suggested that these temperature-dependent differences between the time courses obtained may be due to the occurrence of different changes at 37 degrees C and at 0 degree C in the relative contributions of different components (with different affinities) to the binding observed at 3.5 microM-malonyl-CoA. Evidence for multi-component binding was obtained in the form of strongly curvilinear Scatchard plots for instantaneous (5s) binding of malonyl-CoA to mitochondria. Such multi-component binding would be expected from previous results on the different affinities of CPT I for malonyl-CoA with respect to inhibition [Zammit (1984) Biochem. J. 218, 379-386]. Mitochondria obtained from starved rats showed qualitatively the same time courses as those described above, with notable quantitative differences with respect both to the absolute extents of CPT I inhibition and [14C]malonyl-CoA binding achieved as well as to the time taken to attain them.