Metabolism of glutamine and glutamate by rat renal tubules. Study with 15N and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was utilized to study the metabolism of [15N]glutamate, [2-15N]glutamine, and [5-15N]glutamine in isolated renal tubules prepared from control and chronically acidotic rats. The main purpose was to determine the nitrogen sources utilized by the kidney in various acid-base states for ammoniagenesis. Incubations were performed in the presence of 2.5 mM 15N-labeled glutamine or glutamate. Experiments with [5-15N]glutamine showed that in control animals approximately 90% of ammonia nitrogen was derived from 5-N of glutamine versus 60% in renal tubules from acidotic rats. Experiments with [2-15N]glutamine or [15N]glutamate indicated that in chronic acidosis approximately 30% of ammonia nitrogen was derived either from 2-N of glutamine or glutamate-N by the activity of glutamate dehydrogenase. Flux through glutamate dehydrogenase was 6-fold higher in chronic acidosis versus control. No 15NH3 could be detected in renal tubules from control rats when [2-15N]glutamine was the substrate. The rates of 15N transfer to other amino acids and to the 6-amino groups of the adenine nucleotides were significantly higher in normal renal tubules versus those from chronically acidotic rats. In tubules from chronically acidotic rats, 15N abundance in 15NH3 and the rate of 15NH3 appearance were significantly higher than that of either the 6-amino group of adenine nucleotides or the 15N-amino acids studied. The data indicate that glutamate dehydrogenase activity rather than glutamate transamination is primarily responsible for augmented ammoniagenesis in chronic acidosis. The contribution of the purine nucleotide cycle to ammonia formation appears to be unimportant in renal tubules from chronically acidotic rats.     

Compartmentation of [14C]Glutamate and [14C]Glutamine Oxidative Metabolism in the Rat Hippocampus as Determined by Microdialysis

Abstract: Metabolic compartmentation of amino acid metabolism in brain is exemplified by the differential synthesis of glutamate and glutamine from the identical precursor and by the localization of the enzyme glutamine synthetase in glial cells. In the current study, we determined if the oxidative metabolism of glutamate and glutamine was also compartmentalized. The relative oxidation rates of glutamate and glutamine in the hippocampus of free-moving rats was determined by using microdialysis both to infuse the radioactive substrate and to collect ¹⁴CO₂ generated during their oxidation. At the end of the oxidation experiment, the radioactive substrate was replaced by artificial CSF, 2 min-fractions were collected, and the specific activities of glutamate and glutamine were determined. Extrapolation of the specific activity back to the time that artificial CSF replaced ¹⁴C-amino acids in the microdialysis probe yielded an approximation of the interstitial specific activity during the oxidation. The extrapolated interstitial specific activities for [¹⁴C]glutamate and [¹⁴C]glutamine were 59 ± 18 and 2.1 ± 0.5 dpm/pmol, respectively. The initial infused specific activities for [U-¹⁴C]glutamate and [U-¹⁴C]glutamine were 408 ± 8 and 387 ± 1 dpm/pmol, respectively. The dilution of glutamine was greater than that of glutamate, consistent with the difference in concentrations of these amino acids in the interstitial space. Based on the extrapolated interstitial specific activities, the rate of glutamine oxidation exceeds that of glutamate oxidation by a factor of 5.3. These data indicate compartmentation of either uptake and/or oxidative metabolism of these two amino acids. The presence of [¹⁴C]glutamine in the interstitial space when [¹⁴C]glutamate was perfused into the brain provided further evidence for the glutamate/glutamine cycle in brain.     

The pathway of glutamine and glutamate oxidation in isolated mitochondria from mammalian cells

1. Pyruvate strongly inhibited aspartate production by mitochondria isolated from Ehrlich ascites-tumour cells, and rat kidney and liver respiring in the presence of glutamine or glutamate; the production of (14)CO(2) from l-[U-(14)C]glutamine was not inhibited though that from l-[U-(14)C]glutamate was inhibited by more than 50%. 2. Inhibition of aspartate production during glutamine oxidation by intact Ehrlich ascites-tumour cells in the presence of glucose was not accompanied by inhibition of CO(2) production. 3. The addition of amino-oxyacetate, which almost completely suppressed aspartate production, did not inhibit the respiration of the mitochondria in the presence of glutamine, though the respiration in the presence of glutamate was inhibited. 4. Glutamate stimulated the respiration of kidney mitochondria in the presence of glutamine, but the production of aspartate was the same as that in the presence of glutamate alone. 5. The results suggest that the oxidation of glutamate produced by the activity of mitochondrial glutaminase can proceed almost completely through the glutamate dehydrogenase pathway if the transamination pathway is inhibited. This indicates that the oxidation of glutamate is not limited by a high [NADPH]/[NADP(+)] ratio. 6. It is suggested that under physiological conditions the transamination pathway is a less favourable route for the oxidation of glutamate (produced by hydrolysis of glutamine) in Ehrlich ascites-tumour cells, and perhaps also kidney, than the glutamate dehydrogenase pathway, as the production of acetyl-CoA strongly inhibits the first mechanism. The predominance of the transamination pathway in the oxidation of glutamate by isolated mitochondria can be explained by a restricted permeability of the inner mitochondrial membrane to glutamate and by a more favourable location of glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase compared with that of glutamate dehydrogenase.     

Hepatocyte heterogeneity in glutamate uptake by isolated perfused rat liver

Glutamate is simultaneously taken up and released by perfused rat liver, as shown by 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glutamate in the presence of a net glutamate release by the liver, turning to a net glutamate uptake at portal glutamate concentrations above 0.3 mM. 14CO2 production from portal [1-14C]glutamate is decreased by about 60% in the presence of ammonium ions. This effect is not observed during inhibition of glutamine synthetase by methionine sulfoximine. 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glutamate is not influenced by glutamine. Also, when glutamate accumulates intracellularly during the metabolism of glutamine (added at high concentrations, 5 mM), 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glutamate is not affected. If labeled glutamate is generated intracellularly from added [U-14C]proline, stimulation of glutamine synthesis by ammonium ions did not affect 14CO2 production from [U-14C]proline. After induction of a perivenous liver cell necrosis by CCL4, i.e. conditions associated with an almost complete loss of perivenous glutamine synthesis but no effect on periportal urea synthesis, 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glutamate is decreased by about 70%. The results are explained by hepatocyte heterogeneity in glutamate metabolism and indicate a predominant uptake of glutamate (that reaches the liver by the vena portae) by the small perivenous population of glutamine-synthesizing hepatocytes, whereas glutamate production from glutamine or proline is predominantly periportal. In view of the size of the glutamine synthetase-containing hepatocyte pool [Gebhardt, R. and Mecke, D. (1983) EMBO J. 2, 567-570], glutamate transport capacity of these hepatocytes would be about 20-fold higher as compared to other hepatocytes.     

Glucose and glutamine metabolism in rat thymocytes.

The metabolism of glucose and glutamine in freshly prepared resting and concanavalin A-stimulated rat thymocytes was studied. Concanavalin A addition enhanced uptake of both glucose and glutamine and led to an increase in oxidative degradation of both substrates to CO2. With variously labelled [14C]glucose, it was shown that the pathways of glucose dissimilation were equally stimulated by the mitogen. A disproportionately large percentage of the extra glucose taken up was converted into lactate, but concanavalin A also caused an increase in the oxidation of pyruvate as judged by the enhanced release of 14CO2 from [2-14C]-, [3,4-14C]- and [6-14C]-glucose. Addition of glutamine did not affect glucose metabolism. The major end products of glutamine metabolism by resting and mitogen-stimulated rat thymocytes were glutamate, aspartate, CO2 and NH3. Virtually no lactate was formed from glutamine. Concanavalin A enhanced the formation of all end products except glutamate, indicating that more glutamine was metabolized beyond the stage of glutamate in the mitogen-activated cells. Addition of glucose caused a significant decrease in the rates of glutamine utilization and conversion into aspartate and CO2 in the absence and in the presence of concanavalin A. In the presence of glucose, almost all nitrogen of the metabolized glutamine was accounted for as NH3 released via the glutaminase and/or glutamate dehydrogenase reactions. In the absence of glucose, part (18%) of the glutamine nitrogen was metabolized by the resting and to a larger extent (38%) by the mitogen-stimulated thymocytes via a transaminase or amidotransferase reaction.     

Avian mitochondrial glutamine metabolism.

Intact avian liver mitochondria were shown to synthesize glutamine from glutamate in the absence of exogenous ATP and ammonia. With L-[U-14C]glutamate as the substrate, there was an approximate 1:1 stoichiometry between glutamate deaminated (as measured by the release of 14CO2 due to alpha-keto-[14C]glutarate oxidation) and glutamate amidated. With L-[15N]glutamate as the substrate, the isolated glutamine was shown by low and high resolution mass spectrometry of its phenylisothiocyanate derivative to contain 15N in both the alpha-amino and amide groups. Thus, for each mole of glutamate taken up, approximately 0.5 mol is deaminated and the other 0.5 mol serves as a substrate for glutamine synthetase previously localized in these mitochondria (Vorhaben, J. E., and Campbell, J. W. (1972) J. Biol. Chem. 247,2763). The permeability of L-glutamine to intact avian liver mitochondria was studied by a rapid centrifugation technique. Efflux as well as influx of L-glutamine were both rapid and appeared to occur by a passive, energy-independent process. These results indicate that the mitochondrial glutamine synthetase present in uricotelic species represents the primary ammonia detoxication reaction in that ammonia released intramitochondrially during amino acid catabolism is converted to glutamine for efflux to the cytosol where it may serve as a substrate for purine (uric acid) biosynthesis.     

Oxidation of glutamine in HeLa cells: Role and control of truncated TCA cycles in tumour mitochondria

The oxidative metabolism of glutamine in HeLa cells was investigated using intact cells and isolated mitochondria. The concentrations of the cytoplasmic amino acids were found to be aspartate, 8.0 mM; glutamate, 22.2 mM; glutamine, 11.3 mM; glycine, 9.8 mM; taurine, 2.3 mM; and alanine, <1 mM. Incubation of the cells with [¹⁴C]glutamine gave steady-state recoveries of ¹⁴C-label (estimated as exogenous glutamine) in the glutamine, glutamate, and aspartate pools, of 103%, 80%, and 25%, respectively, indicating that glutamine synthetase activity was absent and that a significant proportion of glutamate oxidation proceeded through aspartate aminotransferase. No label was detected in the alanine pool, suggesting that alanine aminotransferase activity was low in these cells. The clearance rate of [¹⁴C]glutamine through the cellular compartment was 65 nmol/min per mg protein. There was a 28 s delay after [¹⁴C]glutamine was added to the cell before ¹⁴C-label was incorporated into the cytoplasm, while the formation of glutamate commenced 10 s later. Aspartate was the major metabolite formed when the mitochondria were incubated in a medium containing either glutamine, glutamate, or glutamate plus malate. The transaminase inhibitor AOA inhibited both aspartate efflux from the mitochondria and respiration. The addition of 2-oxoglutarate failed to relieve glutamate plus malate respiration, indicating that 2-oxoglutarate is part of a well-coupled truncated cycle, of which aspartate aminotransferase has been shown to be a component [Parlo and Coleman (1984): J Biol Chem 259:9997–10003]. This was confirmed by the observation that, although it inhibited respiration, AOA did not affect the efflux of citrate from the mitochondria. Thus citrate does not appear to be a cycle component and is directly transported to the medium. Therefore, it was concluded that the truncated TCA cycle in HeLa cells is the result of both a low rate of citrate synthesis and an active citrate transporter. DNP (10 μM) induced a state III-like respiration only in the presence of succinate, which supports the evidence that NAD-linked dehydrogenases were not coupled to respiration, and suggests that these mitochondria may have a defect in complex I of the electron transport chain. Arising from the present results with HeLa cells and results extant in the literature, it has been proposed that a major regulating mechanism for the flux of glutamate carbon in tumour cells is the competitive inhibition exerted by 2-oxoglutarate on aspartate and alanine aminotransferases. This has been discussed and applied to the data. J. Cell. Biochem. 68:213–225, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Glutamate metabolism and transport in rat brain mitochondria.

1. The metabolism and transport of glutamate and glutamine in rat brain mitochondria of non-synaptic origin has been studied in various states. 2. These mitochondria exhibited glutamate uptake and swelling in iso-osmotic ammonium glutamate, both of which were inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide. 3. The oxidation of glutamate was inhibited by 20% by avenaciolide, but glutamine oxidation was not affected. 4. These mitochondria, when metabolizing glutamine, allowed glutamate, but very little aspartate, to efflux at considerable rates. 5. These results suggests that brain mitochondria of non-synaptic origin possess in addition to a relatively rapid glutamate-aspartate translocase, a relatively slow aspartate-independent glutamate-OH-translocase (cf. liver mitochondria).     

Inhibition of Glutamine Transport in Rat Brain Mitochondria by Some Amino Acids and Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle Intermediates

Glutamine transport into rat brain synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria has been monitored by the uptake of [³H]glutamine and by mitochondrial swelling. The concentration of glutamate in brain mitochondria is calculated to be high, 5–10 mM, indicating that phosphate activated glutaminase localized inside the mitochondria is likely to be dormant and the glutamine taken up not hydrolyzed. The uptake of [³H]glutamine is largely stereospecific. It is inhibited by glutamate, asparagine, aspartate, 2-oxoglutarate and succinate. Glutamate inhibits this uptake into synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria by 95 and 85%, respectively. The inhibition by glutamate, asparagine, aspartate and succinate can be explained by binding to an inhibitory site whereas the inhibition by 2-oxoglutarate is counteracted by aminooxyacetic acid, which indicates that it is dependent on transamination. The glutamine-induced swelling, a measure of a very low affinity uptake, is inhibited by glutamate at a glutamine concentration of 100 mM, but this inhibition is abolished when the glutamine concentration is raised to 200 mM. This suggests that the very low affinity glutamine uptake is competitively inhibited by glutamate. Furthermore, glutamine-induced swelling is inhibited by 2-oxoglutarate, succinate and malate, similarly to that of the [³H]glutamine uptake. The properties of the mitochondrial glutamine transport are not identical with those of a recently purified renal glutamine carrier.     

Acidotic alterations in oxidative metabolism influencing rat renal slice ammoniagenesis

We believe that two findings are interconnected and help to comprehend a major mechanism behind the regulation of renal ammonia production during acidosis. First, slices from acidotic compared to control and alkalotic rats produce more ammonia from glutamine. Second, inhibition of renal oxidative metabolism at various points by metabolic inhibitors augments slice ammoniagenesis. Based on this, our purpose was to determine whether enhanced renal ammoniagenesis during acidosis could occur through the same mechanism as the metabolic inhibitors. However, metabolic inhibitors (malonate; arsenite; 2,4-dinitrophenol) usually decrease while acidosis increases slice gluconeogenesis. There is one known exception. Fluorocitrate, which blocks citrate metabolism, simulates the acidotic condition by enhancing both ammonia and glucose production. Accordingly, a block of oxidative metabolism if located prior to citrate oxidation in the tricarboxylic acid cycle could theoretically augment ammoniagenesis during acidosis. Lactate, is a major renal fuel whose oxidative metabolism would be blocked by fluorocitrate. There, we concentrated on the effects of acidosis on lactate as well as glutamine metabolism. Lactate decarboxylation decreases in the face of increased glucose production during acidosis, and lactate inhibition of glutamine decarboxylation decreases in slices from acidotic rats. Also, we found lesser oxygen consumption in the presence of lactate by kidney slices from acidotic rats compared to control and alkalotic rats. We postulate that relatively less incorporation of lactate into the TCA cycle, causing decreased citrate formation and citrate oxidation during acidosis, contributes, at least in part, to acidotic adaptation of ammoniagenesis.     

Control of glutamate oxidation in brain and liver mitochondrial systems

1. Glutamate oxidation in brain and liver mitochondrial systems proceeds mainly through transamination with oxaloacetate followed by oxidation of the α-oxoglutarate formed. Both in the presence and absence of dinitrophenol in liver mitochondria this pathway accounted for almost 80% of the uptake of glutamate. In brain preparations the transamination pathway accounted for about 90% of the glutamate uptake. 2. The oxidation of [1-¹⁴C]- and [5-¹⁴C]-glutamate in brain preparations is compatible with utilization through the tricarboxylic acid cycle, either after the formation of α-oxoglutarate or after decarboxylation to form γ-aminobutyrate. There is no indication of γ-decarboxylation of glutamate. 3. The high respiratory control ratio obtained with glutamate as substrate in brain mitochondrial preparations is due to the low respiration rate in the absence of ADP: this results from the low rate of formation of oxaloacetate under these conditions. When oxaloacetate is made available by the addition of malate or of NAD⁺, the respiration rate is increased to the level obtained with other substrates. 4. When the transamination pathway of glutamate oxidation was blocked with malonate, the uptake of glutamate was inhibited in the presence of ADP or ADP plus dinitrophenol by about 70 and 80% respectively in brain mitochondrial systems, whereas the inhibition was only about 50% in dinitrophenol-stimulated liver preparations. In unstimulated liver mitochondria in the presence of malonate there was a sixfold increase in the oxidation of glutamate by the glutamate-dehydrogenase pathway. Thus the operating activity of glutamate dehydrogenase is much less than the `free' (non-latent) activity. 5. The following explanation is put forward for the control of glutamate metabolism in liver and brain mitochondrial preparations. The oxidation of glutamate by either pathway yields α-oxoglutarate, which is further metabolized. Since aspartate aminotransferase is present in great excess compared with the respiration rate, the oxaloacetate formed is continuously removed by the transamination reaction. Thus α-oxoglutarate is formed independently of glutamate dehydrogenation, and the question is how the dehydrogenation of glutamate is influenced by the continuous formation of α-oxoglutarate. The results indicate that a competition takes place between the α-oxoglutarate-dehydrogenase complex and glutamate dehydrogenase, probably for NAD⁺, resulting in preferential oxidation of α-oxoglutarate.     

Uptake and metabolism of glutamate and aspartate by astroglial and neuronal preparations of rat cerebellum

Astrocytes, neuronal perikarya and synaptosomes were prepared from rat cerebellum. Kinetics of high and low affinity uptake systems of glutamate and aspartate, nominal rates of¹⁴CO₂ production from [U–¹⁴C]glutamate, [U–¹⁴C]aspartate and [1–¹⁴C]glutamate and activities of enzymes of glutamate metabolism were studied in these preparations. The rate of uptake and the nomial rate of production of¹⁴CO₂ from these amino acids was higher in the astroglia than neuronal perikarya and synaptosomes. Activities of glutamine synthetase and glutamate dehydrogenase were higher in astrocytes than in neuronal perikarya and synaptosomes. Activities of glutaminase and glutamic acid decarboxylase were observed to be highest in neuronal perikarya and synaptosomes respectively. These results are in agreement with the postulates of theory of metabolic compartmentation of glutamate while others (presence of glutaminase in astrocytes and glutamine synthetase in synaptosomes) are not. Results of this study also indicated that (i) at high extracellular concentrations, glutamate/aspartate uptake may be predominantly into astrocytes while at low extracellular concentrations, it would be into neurons (ii) production of -ketoglutarate from glutamate is chiefly by way of transamination but not by oxidative deamination in these three preparations and (iii) there are topographical differences glutamate metabolism within the neurons.     

Glutamate Uptake and Metabolism in C-6 Glioma Cells: Alterations by Potassium Ion and Dibutyryl cAMP

Abstract: Uptake and metabolism of glutamate was studied in the C-6 glioma cell line grown in the absence or presence of dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP). Glutamate and aspartate uptake were competitive in cells grown under both conditions. Increased [K⁺] in the medium caused a significant decrease in the uptake of both amino acids. A small part of this decrease (<25%) was due to an enhanced efflux of tissue amino acid. The effects of increased [K⁺] were observed whether or not the [Na⁺] in the medium was concomitantly decreased. In cells grown in the presence of 1 mM dbcAMP for 48 h, glutamate uptake and metabolism were altered. Tissue levels of glutamate, aspartate, glutamine, GABA, and alanine were generally less in treated than in naive cells. When incubated with 50 μM [U-¹⁴C]glutamate, there was significantly less incorporation of radioactivity into treated cells with time, resulting in greatly lowered specific radioactivities of glutamate, aspartate, and GABA. However, the rate of labeling of glutamine was greatly increased; this was consistent with the previously observed doubling in glutamine synthetase activity in dbcAMP-treated C-6 cells. Tissue glutamate decarboxylase activity was halved in treated cells, accounting for the large decrease in GABA labeling. The metabolic data suggested a decreased uptake of exogenous glutamate; in studies on initial rates of uptake, the V_max of high-affinity glutamate uptake was decreased by 40%. This decrease was of the same order of magnitude as that observed in the metabolic experiments. Thus, in this glial model, both rapid, acute changes and slower, long-term changes in neuroactive amino acid metabolism were observed. Each of these conditions mimics a stimulus of neuronal origin, and the resulting changes could modulate extrasynaptic activity of neuroactive amino acids.     

Glutamate Metabolism in Rat Cortical Astrocyte Cultures

Glutamate metabolism in rat cortical astrocyte cultures was studied to evaluate the relative rates of flux of glutamate carbon through oxidative pathways and through glutamine synthetase (GS). Rates of 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glutamate were determined, as was the metabolic fate of [14C(U)]glutamate in the presence and absence of the transaminase inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid and of methionine sulfoximine, an irreversible inhibitor of GS. The effects of subculturing and dibutyryl cyclic AMP treatment of astrocytes on these parameters were also examined. The vast majority of exogenously added glutamate was converted to glutamine and exported into the extracellular medium. Inhibition of GS led to a sustained and greatly elevated intracellular glutamate level, thereby demonstrating the predominance of this pathway in the astrocytic metabolism of glutamate. Nevertheless, there was some glutamate oxidation in the astrocyte culture, as evidenced by aspartate production and labeling of intracellular aspartate pools. Inhibition of aspartate aminotransferase caused a greater than 70% decrease in 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glutamate. Inhibition of GS caused an increase in aspartate production. It is concluded that transamination of glutamate rather than oxidative deamination catalyzed by glutamate dehydrogenase is the first step in the entry of glutamate carbon into the citric acid cycle in cultured astrocytes. This scheme of glutamate metabolism was not qualitatively altered by subculturing or by treatment of the cultures with dibutyryl cyclic AMP.     

Effect of the antiepileptic drug sodium valproate on glutamine and glutamate metabolism in isolated human kidney tubules

We studied the effects of sodium valproate, a widely used antiepileptic drug and a hyperammonemic agent, on L-[1-14C]glutamine and L-[1-14C]glutamate metabolism in isolated human kidney-cortex tubules. Valproate markedly stimulated glutamine removal as well as the formation of ammonia, 14CO2, pyruvate, lactate and alanine, but it inhibited glucose synthesis; the increase in ammonia formation was explained by a stimulation by valproate mainly of flux through glutaminase (EC 3.5.1.2) and to a much lesser extent of flux through glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3). By contrast, valproate did not stimulate glutamate removal or ammonia formation, suggesting that the increase in flux through glutamate dehydrogenase observed with glutamine as substrate was secondary to the increase in flux through glutaminase. Accumulation of pyruvate, alanine and lactate in the presence of valproate was less from glutamate than from glutamine. Inhibition by aminooxyacetate of accumulation of alanine from glutamine caused by valproate did not prevent the acceleration of glutamine utilization and the subsequent stimulation of ammonia formation. It is concluded from these data, which are the first concerning the in vitro metabolism of glutamine and glutamate in human kidney-cortex tubules, that the stimulatory effect of valproate is primarily exerted at the level of glutaminase in human renal cortex.     

GLUTAMINE UPTAKE AND METABOLISM BY THE ISOLATED TOAD BRAIN: EVIDENCE PERTAINING TO ITS PROPOSED ROLE AS A TRANSMITTER PRECURSOR

Abstract— Hemisections of toad brains, when incubated in a physiological medium containing no glutamine. released considerable amounts of this amino acid into the medium. When glutamine was included in the medium at a concentration of 0.2 mm the net efflux from the tissue was reduced but not totally prevented. Although there was no net uptake of glutamine, the tissue did accumulate [U-¹⁴C]glu-tamine and some of this labelled glutamine was rapidly metabolized to glutamate, GABA and aspartate. The precursor-product relationship for the metabolism of glutamine to glutamate differed from the classic single compartment model in that the specific radioactivity of glutamate rose very quickly to approx one-tenth that of glutamine, but increased slowly thereafter. These data suggest that the [¹⁴C]glutamine was taken up into two metabolically distinct compartments and/or that some of the [¹⁴C]glutamine was converted to [¹⁴C]glutamate during the uptake process. The uptake of [¹⁴C]glutamine was diminished when the tissue was incubated in a non-oxygenated medium or when Na⁺ was omitted (substituted with sucrose) and K⁺ was concomitantly elevated. However, on a relative basis, the incorporation of radioactivity into glutamate and GABA was increased by these incubation conditions. The metabolism of glutamine to aspartate was greatly depressed when the tissue was not oxygenated. The glutamate formed from [U-¹⁴C]glutamine taken up by the tissue was converted to GABA at a faster rate than was glutamate derived from [U-¹⁴C]glucose. [U-¹⁴C]gly-cerol or exogenous [U-¹⁴C]glutamate. This suggests that glutamine was metabolized to GABA selectively; i.e. on a relative basis, glutamine served as a better source of carbon for the synthesis of GABA than did glucose, glycerol or exogenous glutamate. When the brain hemisections were incubated in the normal physiological medium with or without glutamine. there was very little efflux of glutamate, GABA or aspartate from the tissue. However when NaCl was omitted from the medium (substituted with sucrose) and K⁺ was elevated to 29 miu. a marked efflux of these three amino acids into the medium did occur, and over a period of 160min, the content of each amino acid in the tissue was depleted considerably. When glutamine (0.2 mm ) was included in the Na⁺ deficient-high K.⁺ medium, the average amount of glutamate, GABA and aspartate in the tissue plus the medium was greater than when glutamine was not included in the medium. Such data indicate that CNS tissues can utilize glutamine for a net synthesis of glutamate, GABA and aspartate. The results of this study provide further evidence in support of the concept that the functional (transmitter) pools of glutamate and GABA are maintained and regulated in part via biosynthesis from glutamine. One specific mechanism instrumental in regulating the content of glutamate in nerve terminals may be a process of glutamine uptake coupled to deamidation.     

Evidence indicating that pig renal phosphate-activated glutaminase has a functionally predominant external localization in the inner mitochondrial membrane

Phosphate-activated glutaminase in intact pig renal mitochondria was inhibited 50-70% by the sulfhydryl reagents mersalyl and N-ethylmaleimide (0.3-1.0 mM), when assayed at pH 7.4 in the presence of no or low phosphate (10 mM) and glutamine (2 mM). However, sulfhydryl reagents added to intact mitochondria did not inhibit the SH-enzyme beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (a marker of the inner face of the inner mitochondrial membrane), but did so upon addition to sonicated mitochondria. This indicates that the sulfhydryl reagents are impermeable to the inner membrane and that regulatory sulfhydryl groups for glutaminase have an external localization here. The inhibition observed when sulfhydryl reagents were added to intact mitochondria could not be attributed to an effect on a phosphate carrier, but evidence was obtained that pig renal mitochondria have also a glutamine transporter, which is inhibited only by mersalyl and not by N-ethylmaleimide. Mersalyl and N-ethylmaleimide showed nondistinguishable effects on the kinetics of glutamine hydrolysis, affecting only the apparent Vmax for glutamine and not the apparent Km calculated from linear Hanes-Woolf plots. Furthermore, both calcium (which activates glutamine hydrolysis), as well as alanine (which has no effect on the hydrolytic rate), inhibited glutamine transport into the mitochondria, indicating that transport of glutamine is not rate-limiting for the glutaminase reaction. Desenzitation to inhibition by mersalyl and N-ethylmaleimide occurred when the assay was performed under optimal conditions for phosphate activated glutaminase (i.e. in the presence of 150 mM phosphate, 20 mM glutamine and at pH 8.6). Desenzitation also occurred when the enzyme was incubated with low concentrations of Triton X-100 which did not affect the rate of glutamine hydrolysis. Following incubation with [14C]glutamine and correction for glutamate in contaminating subcellular particles, the specific activity of [14C]glutamate in the mitochondria was much lower than that of the surrounding incubation medium. This indicates that glutamine-derived glutamate is released from the mitochondria without being mixed with the endogenous pool of glutamate. The results suggest that phosphate-activated glutaminase has a functionally predominant external localization in the inner mitochondrial membrane.     

Effect of acidosis on glutamine transport by isolated rat renal brush-border and basolateral-membrane vesicles.

Glutamine uptake was examined in isolated renal brush-border and basolateral-membrane vesicles from control and acidotic rats. In brush-border vesicles from acidotic animals, there was a significant increase in the initial rate of glutamine uptake compared with that in controls. Lowering the pH of the medium increased the initial rate of glutamine uptake in brush-border vesicles from acidotic, but not from control, rats. In brush-border vesicles from both groups of animals, two saturable transport systems mediated glutamine uptake. There was a 2-fold increase in the Vmax. of the low-affinity high-capacity system in the brush-border vesicles from the acidotic animals compared with that from control animals, with no alteration in the other kinetic parameters. There was no difference in glutamine uptake by the two saturable transport systems in basolateral vesicles from control and acidotic animals. Lowering the incubation-medium pH increased the uptake of glutamine by basolateral vesicles from both control and acidotic rats to a similar extent. The data indicate that during acidosis there are alterations in glutamine transport by both the basolateral and brush-border membrane which could enhance its uptake by the renal-tubule cell for use in ammoniagenesis.     

Pathway of glutamate oxidation and its regulation in the HuH13 line of human hepatoma cells.

Well-coupled mitochondria were isolated from a HuH13 line of human hepatoma cells and human liver tissue. The liver mitochondria showed a feeble glutamine oxidation activity in contrast to the hepatoma mitochondria, whereas they utilized glutamate well for the oxidative phosphorylation. In the liver mitochondria, glutamate was oxidized via the routes of transamination and deamination. On the other hand, glutamate oxidation was initiated preferentially via transamination pathway in the tumor mitochondria. In the liver mitochondria, bicarbonate nearly at a physiological concentration inhibited oxygen uptake with glutamate as substrate. The interaction of bicarbonate with the pathway of glutamate oxidation occurred primarily at the level of succinate dehydrogenase, due to competitive inhibition of the enzyme by the compound. In contrast to the liver mitochondria, glutamate oxidation was not affected by bicarbonate in the tumor mitochondria. These results indicate that the aberrations in the glutamate metabolism and its regulation observed in the hepatoma mitochondria may be favorable to the respiration utilizing glutamine and/or glutamate as an energy source.     

Glutamine transport and metabolism by mitochondria from dog renal cortex. General properties and response to acidosis and alkalosis.

Mitochondria from dog renal cortex were incubated with L-[14Cglutamine. Glutamate metabolism was prevented by inhibitors so that glutamate accumulated either in the mitochondrial matrix space or in the medium. The formation and accumuation of glutamate formed from glutamine and the distribution of glutamine in the mitochondrial fluid spaces were studied. In the matrix space glutamate rapidly reaches levels over 5 times that of glutamine in the medium. A more gradual accumulation occurs in the medium as glutamate is transported out of the mitochondria. Addition of an energy source such as succinate to the medium accelerates glutamate formation. A Km of 0.6 mM appears to govern the reaction at low concentrations of glutamine; at about 4 mM an abrupt change kinetics occurs with a Km of 5 mM above that level. Both NH4+ and glutamate inhibit glutamine metabolism and phosphate stimulates it, but little effect glutamate or phosphate occurs at low levels of these substances. The pH optimum of the reaction is between 7.4 and 7.8. Mersalyl and p-chloromercuribenzoate strongly inhibit glutamate formation; N-ethylmaleimide and bromcresol green have weaker inhibitory actions, and borate increases the reaction rate. In the presence of mersalyl, glutamine is striclly confined to the outer space of mitochondria and none is detectable in the matrix space. Similarly at ) degrees glutamine is confined to the simultaneously determined sucrose or mannitol spaces...