Regulation of the gene expression of glucokinase and L-type pyruvate kinase in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes by hormones and carbohydrates

The regulation of the gene expression of two important glycolytic enzymes, glucokinase and L-type pyruvate kinase, by hormones and carbohydrates was studied, in primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes. Insulin caused time- and dose-dependent increases in the amounts of the mRNAs of the two enzymes in hepatocytes, although glucokinase responded to this hormone faster than L-type pyruvate kinase. The induction of glucokinase mRNA by insulin did not require the presence of glucose itself, but that of the L-type isozyme was dependent on the glucose concentration. For this effect, fructose and glycerol could partially substitute for glucose, but pyruvate and 2-deoxyglucose, a nonmetabolizable glucose analog, could not. The time course of insulin induction in the presence of fructose, but not of glycerol, was similar to that in the presence of glucose. In the presence of glycerol, the mRNA increased in a diphasic manner: the first increase, which probably reflected the effects of fructose and glycerol in normal liver, reached a maximum after 3 h, whereas the second increase corresponded to the increase in the presence of glucose. These results suggested that some metabolite of glucose was required for the insulin-induced increase in L-type pyruvate kinase mRNA. Cycloheximide inhibited the effects of insulin on the two mRNAs, suggesting that ongoing protein synthesis is required in both cases. The addition of 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine, an inhibitor of protein kinase C, also inhibited the effects of insulin. However, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate alone did not induce the two mRNAs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Glucose utilization during gonadotropin-induced meiotic maturation in cumulus cell-enclosed mouse oocytes

Earlier work from this laboratory has determined that glucose plays an important role in the mechanisms regulating meiotic maturation in mammalian oocytes. In the current study, we have further explored the role of glucose in hormone-induced germinal vesicle breakdown (GVB) in an effort to better understand how glucose utilization and metabolism relate to the control of meiotic maturation in mouse cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes (CEO). When CEO were cultured in medium containing 4 mM hypoxanthine (to maintain meiotic arrest), 5.5 mM glucose, and 0.23 mM pyruvate, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) stimulated lactate accumulation in a time-dependent manner. Addition of 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) to the medium at various times after the initiation of culture resulted in rapid termination of lactate production and suppression of FSH-induced GVB scored after 18 hr of culture, the effectiveness diminishing the longer the delay before addition of 2-DG. By 8 hr, addition of 2-DG was without effect on GVB. Similar effects were seen when FSH-treated CEO were washed free of glucose. In a 2-DG dose-response experiment, gonadotropin-induced lactate production was prevented, but this inhibition did not necessarily prevent GVB. The activities of six metabolic enzymes were measured in extracts of freshly isolated complexes, and in order of increasing activity were: hexokinase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphofructokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and pyruvate kinase. Of the six enzymes examined, only hexokinase activity was increased in CEO exposed to FSH. CEO were cultured in microdrops in the presence or absence of FSH, and aliquots from the same microdrop were assayed for glucose, lactate, and pyruvate. In response to FSH, utilization of glucose in microdrop cultures by CEO was markedly increased and was accompanied by comparable lactate production and limited pyruvate production. Cycloheximide and α-amanitin both blocked FSH-induced oocyte maturation, but only cycloheximide prevented the increase in hexokinase activity and glucose consumption. These data suggest that hexokinase is an important rate-limiting enzyme for glucose utilization that is under translational control and participates in the mechanisms controlling the reinitiation of meiosis. However, stimulation of glycolytic activity does not appear to be a necessary concomitant for meiotic induction. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Parathyroid hormone induction of creatine kinase activity and DNA synthesis is mimicked by phospholipase C, diacylglycerol and phorbol ester

Parathyroid hormone (PTH), which increases cAMP levels, also induces an increase in the activity of the brain isozyme of creatine kinase and in DNA synthesis in osteoblast-enriched bone cell cultures by a cAMP-independent mechanism. The following results lead us to the conclusion that PTH induction of brain isozyme of creatine kinase activity and DNA synthesis occurs by activation of membranal phospholipid metabolism leading to increased protein kinase C activity and Ca2+ mobilization, a mechanism demonstrated for several growth factors and other hormones. (1) Binding of membranal phospholipids by agents such as gentamycin or antiphospholipid antibodies abolishes the stimulation by PTH of creatine kinase activity and DNA synthesis but not of cAMP production. (2) Treatment of cell cultures with exogenous phospholipase C increases brain isozyme of creatine kinase activity and DNA synthesis, but not cAMP production; these stimulations are also blocked by serum containing anti-phospholipid antibodies. PTH has no additional effect on stimulation of creatine kinase activity by phospholipase C (and only a slight effect on DNA synthesis). (3) A synthetic diacylglycerol (1-oleyl-2-acetyl glycerol) or phorbol ester (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate) or Ca2+ ionophore, A23187 induces creatine kinase activity and DNA synthesis in the cultures. However, this effect is not blocked by antiphospholipid sera and PTH has no additional effect. (4) Inhibition of protein kinase C activity by drugs reported to inhibit the enzyme (retinoic acid, quercetin) abolishes the stimulation of brain isozyme of creatine kinase activity and of DNA synthesis by PTH.     

Purification and properties of two isozymes of pyruvate kinase from Mucor racemosus.

The dimorphic phycomycete Mucor racemosus was found to contain up to five electrophoretic forms of pyruvate kinase (ATP: pyruvate 2-O-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.40) depending on growth conditions. M. racemosus hyphal cells grown on glutamic acid as the carbon source contained only the fastest electrophoretic form, designated PK1, while yeast cells grown on glucose contained only the slowest electrophoretic form, PK5. Intermediate electrophoretic forms PK2, PK3, and PK4 as well as PK1 and PK5 were found in hyphal cells grown on media containing fructose or cellibiose. All five electrophoretic forms had molecular weights of ca. 230,000 as determined from plots of log Rm versus acrylamide gel concentration. Both PK1 and PK5 were purified to homogeneity and determined to be homotetramers, with subunit molecular weights of 54,000 and 58,100, respectively. The amino acid content of PK1 and PK5 was determined and found to be similar but not identical. Analysis of limited tryptic digests and cyanogen bromide cleavage fragments of PK1 and PK5 indicate that the subunits of the two isozymes are significantly different.     

Effect of dexamethasone on the isozyme pattern of adult rat liver parenchymal cells in primary cultures

Summary The influence of dexamethasone on the isozyme patterns of ATP-hexose phosphotransferases, aldolase and pyruvate kinase of adult rat hepatocytes maintained in primary cultures has been studied.A progressive loss of the typical adult liver isozymes glucokinase, pyruvate kinase L and aldolase B, with a simultaneous increase of both pyruvate kinase A and hexokinase activities, was observed in hepatocytes cultured in the absence of added glucocorticoid.When the culture medium was supplemented with 10^–7 M dexamethasone, the adult liver patterns of pyruvate kinase and aldolase were preserved for at least seven days of culture, the initial level of glucokinase was maintained for three days, and the rise of hexokinase activity was delayed and partially blocked.These results are discussed in relation to the known beneficial effect of glucocorticoids on the survival of cultured hepatocytes.     

Influence of choline and ethanolamine administration on choline and ethanolamine phosphorylating activities of mouse liver and kidney.

The administration of ethanolamine to adult male mice resulted in a significant increase in ethanolamine kinase activity in liver and kidney. Similarly, choline administration resulted in a significant increase in choline kinase activity in liver and kidney. The administration of ethanolamine resulted in enhancement of choline kinase activity concomitantly with ethanolamine kinase activity in liver and kidney. The administration of choline, however, did not result in any significant increase in ethanolamine kinase activity in liver or kidney. Cycloheximide administration along with choline-ethanolamine prevented the increase in kinase activity in liver and kidney. The results obtained have been discussed in relation to the regulatory role of choline kinase and ethanolamine kinase by de novo synthesis in response to enhanced substrate concentration, the secondary nature of choline kinase induction on ethanolamine administration, and possible distinction between choline kinase and ethanolamine kinase.     

Studies on the relationship between glycolysis, lipogenesis, gluconeogenesis, and pyruvate kinase activity of rat and chicken hepatocytes.

Chicken hepatocytes synthesize glucose and fatty acids at rates which are faster than rat hepatocytes. The former also consume exogenous lactate and pyruvate at a much faster rate and, in contrast to rat hepatocytes, do not accumulate large quantities of lactate and pyruvate by aerobic glycolysis. α-Cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate, an inhibitor of pyruvate transport, causes lactate and pyruvate accumulation by chicken hepatocytes. Glucagon and N⁶,O²′-dibutyryl adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (dibutyryl cyclic AMP) convert pyruvate kinase (EC 2.7.1.40) of rat hepatocytes to a less active form. This effect explains, in part, inhibition of glycolysis, inhibition of lipogenesis, stimulation of gluconeogenesis, and inhibition of the transfer of reducing equivalents from the mitochondrial compartment to the cytoplasmic compartment by these compounds. In contrast, pyruvate kinase of chicken hepatocytes is refractory to inhibition by glucagon or dibutyryl cyclic AMP. Rat liver is known to have predominantly the type L isozyme of pyruvate kinase and chicken liver predominantly the type K. Thus, only the type L isozyme appears subject to interconversion between active and inactive forms by a cyclic AMP-dependent, phosphorylation-dephos-phorylation mechanism. This explains why the transfer of reducing equivalents from the mitochondrial compartment to the cytoplasmic compartment of chicken hepatocytes is insensitive to cyclic AMP. However, glucagon and dibutyryl cyclic AMP inhibit net glucose utilization, inhibit fatty acid synthesis, inhibit lactate and pyruvate accumulation in the presence of α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate, and stimulate gluconeogenesis from lactate and dihydroxyacetone by chicken hepatocytes. Thus, a site of action of cyclic AMP distinct from pyruvate kinase must exist in the glycolytic-gluconeogenic pathway of chicken liver.     

Metabolic deviation of mouse liver by RhIL1-alpha or RhTNF/cachectin.

In this work deviation of liver metabolism by cytokines, especially recombinant human interleukin 1-alpha (rhIL1-alpha), was investigated. Administration of rhIL1-alpha or recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rhTNF/cachectin) to normal mice resulted in rapid, dose-dependent induction of high liver ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity. The effects of these cytokines on liver ODC were not indirect effects mediated by eicosanoids. The induction of liver ODC by rhIL1-alpha was at least partly a direct effect on hepatocytes, and was due to increase in de novo synthesis of the enzyme protein after increase in ODC mRNA. No specific protein was required for increase in the level of ODC-mRNA. On IL1 treatment, actinomycin D caused superinduction of liver ODC, which was at least partly due to increased stability of the ODC enzyme, because actinomycin D doubled the apparent half-life (from 50 to 95 min). Daily administration of 2 x 10(3) U of rhIL1-alpha to mice for 3 days also caused decrease in the level of the differentiated type of pyruvate kinase isozyme (PK-L) and marked increase in that of the prototype isozyme (PK-M2) in the liver, but did not cause significant change in the isozyme patterns of the kidney, thymus, and spleen. RhIL1-alpha also induced hypertrophy of the spleen. These results indicate that rhIL1-alpha causes metabolic deviation of the liver similar to that in tumor-bearing hosts.     

Nucleoside phosphotransferase activity through the growth and cell cycle of Tetrahymena pyriformis GL-I

Tetrahymena pyriformis GL-I were synchronized by three different techniques and nucleoside phosphotransferase activity measured through the different cell cycles obtained. In cells that were starved and then refed, activity did not increase until 75 min after refeeding. This increase in activity occurred well before nuclear DNA synthesis and was not blocked by hydroxyurea. In cells synchronized by the induction technique of one heat shock per generation and the selection technique of differential density labelling, enzyme activity increased continuously over the cell cycle but did not double. However, during early logarithmic growth nucleoside phosphotransferase activity more than doubled over one cell cycle time while late in log growth phase less than a doubling was observed. Cycloheximide and mixed extract experiments suggest that the patterns of activity observed reflect the patterns of enzyme synthesis. These results are discussed with respect to the pattern of activity observed for thymidine kinase in other organisms.     

Regulation of Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B: Effect of Thiamine Starvation

During the transition between the exponential and stationary phases of growth, there was a rapid accumulation of both cell-associated and extracellular enterotoxin B. Extracellular enterotoxin was synthesized until the cells entered the stationary phase during which cell-bound toxin was not detected. The differential rate of toxin synthesis relative to that of total protein synthesis was greater at pH 7.7 than at 6.0. Addition of glucose decreased the differential rate of toxin synthesis. This decrease was greater at pH 7.7 than at 6.0. Addition of pyruvate decreased the differential rate at pH 7.7 but not at 6.0. Analysis of the nongaseous end products of glucose and pyruvate metabolism showed that conditions which favor the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate also favor the repression of toxin synthesis. Elimination of thiamine from the medium prevented the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate by Staphylococcus aureus S-6 and partially or completely reversed the repression of toxin synthesis by glucose and pyruvate. In the absence of an added energy source, thiamine starvation caused a decrease in protein synthesis but an increased differential rate of toxin synthesis which was greater at pH 7.7 than at 6.0. In the absence of thiamine, pyruvate was not metabolized but caused a decrease in the rate of protein synthesis. This resulted in a twofold increase in the differential rate of toxin synthesis. Thus, conditions which altered the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate or decreased the rate of protein synthesis increased the rate of enterotoxin B synthesis.     

Adrenergic regulation of pyruvate kinase and gluconeogenesis in hepatocytes from phosphorylase kinase-deficient (gsdgsd) rats

Hepatocytes were prepared from a strain of rats deficient in hepatic phosphorylase $\text{b}$ kinase and were used to assess the role of this enzyme in the adrenergic regulation of pyruvate kinase and gluconeogenesis. Epinephrine (10 μM) stimulated glucose output and gluconeogenesis from 1.8 mM lactate but did not significantly affect the concentration of hepatocyte glycogen. In addition epinephrine treatment led to an inhibition of pyruvate kinase. The stimulation of gluconeogenesis and the inhibition of pyruvate kinase by epinephrine were blocked by both α- and β-antagonists: similar effects with epinephrine were observed in cells from control animals. It is concluded that mechanisms for the adrenergic regulation of pyruvate kinase and gluconeogenesis are similar in hepatocytes from both phosphorylase kinase-deficient and normal rats.     

Aerobic glycolysis and lymphocyte transformation

1. The role of enhanced aerobic glycolysis in the transformation of rat thymocytes by concanavalin A has been investigated. Concanavalin A addition doubled [U-(14)C]glucose uptake by rat thymocytes over 3h and caused an equivalent increased incorporation into protein, lipids and RNA. A disproportionately large percentage of the extra glucose taken up was converted into lactate, but concanavalin A also caused a specific increase in pyruvate oxidation, leading to an increase in the percentage contribution of glucose to the respiratory fuel. 2. Acetoacetate metabolism, which was not affected by concanavalin A, strongly suppressed pyruvate oxidation in the presence of [U-(14)C]glucose, but did not prevent the concanavalin A-induced stimulation of this process. Glucose uptake was not affected by acetoacetate in the presence or absence of concanavalin A, but in each case acetoacetate increased the percentage of glucose uptake accounted for by lactate production. 3. [(3)H]Thymidine incorporation into DNA in concanavalin A-treated thymocyte cultures was sensitive to the glucose concentration in the medium in a biphasic manner. Very low concentrations of glucose (25mum) stimulated DNA synthesis half-maximally, but maximum [(3)H]thymidine incorporation was observed only when the glucose concentration was raised to 1mm. Lactate addition did not alter the sensitivity of [(3)H]-thymidine uptake to glucose, but inosine blocked the effect of added glucose and strongly inhibited DNA synthesis. 4. It is suggested that the major function of enhanced aerobic glycolysis in transforming lymphocytes is to maintain higher steady-state amounts of glycolytic intermediates to act as precursors for macromolecule synthesis.     

Role of protein phosphorylation in activation of interferon-stimulated gene factors.

Possible involvement of protein phosphorylation in interferon (IFN)-mediated activation of IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 (ISGF3) was investigated. For this purpose, in vivo experiments with specific inhibitors of protein kinases and in vitro experiments with protein phosphatases were carried out. In HeLaM cells, 2-aminopurine, an inhibitor of double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase, blocked the induction of ISGF3 gamma subunit but not the activation of ISGF3 alpha subunit. A series of experiments using combinations of protein and RNA synthesis inhibitors and 2-aminopurine indicated that the block elicited by 2-aminopurine was at the level of ISGF3 gamma mRNA synthesis. Activation of ISGF3 alpha, although insensitive to 2-aminopurine, was completely blocked by 10 nM staurosporine, an inhibitor of protein kinase C. On the other hand, even 500 nM staurosporine did not block the induction of ISGF3 gamma. Incubation of cytoplasmic or nuclear extracts of IFN-treated HeLaM cells in vitro with alkaline phosphatase completely eliminated their ability to form the ISGF3 complex but not the ISGF1 complex. Treatment with acid phosphatase, on the other hand, changed the electrophoretic mobility of the ISGF3 complex but did not obliterate it. Complementation experiments revealed that ISGF3 alpha was the alkaline phosphatase-sensitive component of the complex. These results suggest that a protein kinase C-mediated phosphorylation step is involved in ISGF3 alpha activation and a 2-aminopurine-sensitive component is involved in ISGF3 gamma mRNA induction.     

Independent regulation of pyruvate kinase expression by cyclic AMP and prostaglandin F2 alpha in mouse mastocytoma cells

P-815 mouse mastocytoma cells express the K isozyme of pyruvate kinase and the specific activity of this enzyme is increased in response to N6,2'-O-dibutyryladenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate, 8-bromoadenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate, cholera toxin, and epinephrine, all of which also elevate the intracellular concentration of adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate. Prostaglandin F2 alpha also increases the cellular activity of this enzyme, but does not increase the adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate levels. Under all these conditions, the increase in enzymatic activity is accompanied by an equivalent increase in the pyruvate kinase protein level. However, neither the rate of enzyme synthesis nor the level of pyruvate kinase mRNA is elevated by N6,2'-O-dibutyryladenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate. On the other hand, it does increase the enzyme's half-life. In contrast, prostaglandin F2 alpha increases the rate of synthesis and the level of pyruvate kinase K mRNA, but has no influence on the rate of degradation. Therefore, these cells have two mechanisms which increase pyruvate kinase K levels. One operates via an increase in cAMP level and results in a decrease in the rate of degradation, whereas the other minimizes an upsurge in cAMP levels but still increases pyruvate kinase K activity by increasing its rate of synthesis.     

The effect on some enzymes of rat tissue of diets low in fat content

1. Rats of two strains were kept on three different diets; one was a commercial diet of rat pellets, one contained about 80% of sucrose and 20% of casein and was supplemented with corn oil, and the third was a similar diet without the corn oil. 2. On the commercial diet, the specific activities of pyruvate kinase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and fructose 1,6-diphosphatase in the livers of one strain of rats (strain A) were 1.5-3 times those in the other strain (strain B). When the diet high in sucrose and supplemented with corn oil was given, there were large increases in the specific activity of pyruvate kinase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and fructose 1,6-diphosphatase in the livers of strain A rats. With strain B rats the increases were much smaller. Omission of corn oil from the diet caused a threefold increase in the specific activity of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase in strain B rats, but had little effect on other enzymes. 3. The enzymes of the kidneys and hearts of strain A rats were also more active than those of strain B rats. In strain A rats, the specific activities of pyruvate kinase and fructose 1,6-diphosphatase in the kidney increased when the sucrose content of the diet was high, but in the kidneys of strain B rats there was little change. 4. In strain A rats, the specific activity of pyruvate kinase in the heart more than doubled with the high-sucrose-corn oil diet and increased threefold when corn oil was omitted. No changes were seen in strain B rats. 5. In strain A rats, omission of corn oil from the diet increased the ability of the kidneys to synthesize glucose from lactate. 6. In strain B rats, addition of corn oil to the diet resulted in a decrease in the liver in the specific activity of ATP citrate lyase and in the ability to incorporate acetate into lipid.