| Abstract: | The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex has been demonstrated in high speed pellet preparations from sonicated ribbed mussel gill mitochondria. The activity of the complex is inhibited by low chloride (less than 100 mM) concentrations, EDTA (1 mM), succinate, ATP, and NAD/NADH ratios below 4. Inhibition by EDTA is relieved by addition of 10 mM MgCl2-1 mM CaCl2. ATP inhibition was enhanced by NaF and reversed by high Mg++ concentrations in the absence of NaF. Pyruvate and thiamine pyrophosphate inhibited the inactivation by ATP. The nonhydrolyzable ATP analog AMP-PNP caused inhibition of the overall catalytic activity that was identical to ATP. Factors involved in the ATP inhibition and Mg++ reversal are lost with freezing or cold storage. Preliminary results using gamma-32P-ATP indicate that a protein kinase that phosphorylates the alpha subunit of E1 (pyruvate dehydrogenase) from the mammalian PDC is associated with the gill PDC. The activity of the complex may be regulated by a phosphorylation/dephosphorylation mechanism and by the relative levels of substrates, products, and other metabolites in the mitochondria. |
