scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers on "Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase published in 1978"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Phosphorylation proceeded markedly faster at site 1 than at sites 2 and 3, and phosphorylation at site 2 correlated closely with inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase, indicating the possibility of half-site reactivity.
Abstract: The highly purfied pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (EC 1.2.4.1) and uncomplexed pyruvate dehydrogenase from bovine kidney and heart mitochondria were phosphorylated and inactivated with pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP. Tryptic digestion of the phosphorylated pyruvate dehydrogenase yielded three phosphopeptides, a mono- (site 1) and a di- (sites 1 and 2) phosphorylated tetradecapeptide and a monophosphorylated nonapeptide (site 3). The amino acid sequences of the three phosphopeptides were established to be Tyr-His-Gly-His-Ser(P)-Met-Ser-Asn-Pro-Gly-Val-Ser-Tyr-Arg, Tyr-His-Gly-His-Ser(P)-Met-Ser-Asn-Pro-Gly-Val-Ser(P)-Tyr-Arg, and Tyr-Gly-Met-Gly-Thr-Ser(P)-Val-Glu-Arg. Phosphorylation proceeded markedly faster at site 1 than at sites 2 and 3, and phosphorylation at site 1 correlated closely with inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase. Complete inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase was associated with incorporation at site 1 of 1.0--1.6 mol of phosphoryl groups per mol of enzyme. Since pyruvate dehydrogenase is a tetramer (alpha2beta2) and since phosphorylation occurs only on the alpha subunit, the possibility of half-site reactivity is considered.

254 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A branched chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase-dihydrolipoyl transacylase complex was purified to apparent homogeneity from bovine kidney mitochondria and apparently is not regulated by phosphorylation-dephosphorylation, subject to modulation by end-product inhibition.
Abstract: A branched chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase-dihydrolipoyl transacylase complex was purified to apparent homogeneity from bovine kidney mitochondria. As usually isolated, the complex (s20,w = 40 S) contained little, if any, dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase. When saturated with the latter enzyme the complex had a specific activity of about 12 μmol of α-ketoisovalerate oxidized per min per mg of protein at 30° with NAD+ as electron acceptor. In addition to α-ketoisovalerate, the complex also oxidized α-ketoisocaproate, α-keto-β-methylvalerate, α-ketobutyrate, and pyruvate. The ratios of the specific activities were 2.0:1.5:1.0:1.0:0.4, and the apparent Km values were 40, 50, 37, 56, and 1000 μM. The complex was separated into its component enzymes. The branched chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase (6 S) consists of two different subunits with estimated molecular weights of 46,000 and 35,000. The dihydrolipoyl transacylase (20 S) contains apparently identical subunits of molecular weight about 52,000. In the electron microscope, the transacylase has the appearance of a cube, and the molecules of branched chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase appear to be distributed on the surface of the cube. In contrast to the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex of bovine kidney, the branched chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase complex apparently is not regulated by phosphorylation-dephosphorylation. Its activity, however, is subject to modulation by end-product inhibition.

248 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The physical, chemical, immunologie and kinetic properties of the four isozymes of pyruvate kinase are tabulated, finding the L- and R-isozymes are kinetically similar and immunologically cross-reactive with the M 1 -isozyme.

146 citations


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: In vitro experiments strongly indicate that L-type liver pyruvate kinase is an enzyme whose activity is regulated by reversible protein phosphorylation in vivo, which may be expected with regard to the known effect of cAMP on liver gluconeogenesis.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the regulation of liver pyruvate kinase by phosphorylation–dephosphorylation. The rate and extent of the phosphorylation of L-type liver pyruvate kinase in vitro indicate that it is a specific reaction. This is supported by inhibition of the enzyme by the phosphorylation, which may be expected with regard to the known effect of cAMP on liver gluconeogenesis. The specificity of the phosphorylation reaction is also demonstrated by the fact that neither the A-type enzyme from pig kidney nor the M-type muscle enzyme from the rabbit or pig are substrates of cAMP-stimulated protein kinase. However, phosphorylation of the type-A enzyme from chicken liver has been preliminarily reported. The phosphorylation of liver pyruvate kinase in vitro is reversible, owing to the presence in rat liver cell sap of phosphoprotein phosphatase, which acts on phosphorylated pyruvate kinase. In vitro experiments strongly indicate that L-type liver pyruvate kinase is an enzyme whose activity is regulated by reversible protein phosphorylation in vivo .

136 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The effect of pyruvate to stimulate insulin release depends on its ability to increase the concentration of reduced nicotinamide nucleotides in the islet cells, which markedly inhibits the oxidation of endogenous nutrients.
Abstract: 1. In isolated pancreatic islets, pyruvate causes a shift to the left of the sigmoidal curve relating the rate of insulin release to the ambient glucose concentration. The magnitude of this effect is related to the concentration of pyruvate (5--90 mM) and, at a 30 mM concentration, is equivalent to that evoked by 2 mM-glucose. Pyruvate also enhances insulin release in the presence of fructose, leucine and 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate. 2. In the presence of glucose 8 mM), the secretory response to pyruvate is an immediate process, displaying a biphasic pattern. 3. The insulinotropic action of pyruvate coincides with an inhibition of 45Ca efflux and a stimulation of 45Ca net uptake. The relationship between 45Ca uptake and insulin release displays its usual pattern in the presence of pyruvate. 4. Exogenous pyruvate rapidly accumulates in the islets in amounts close to those derived from the metabolism of glucose. The oxidation of [2-14C]pyruvate represents 64% of the rate of [1-14C]pyruvate decarboxylation and, at a 30 mM concentration, is comparable with that of 8 mM-[U-14C]glucose. 5. When corrected for the conversion of pyruvate into lactate, the oxidation of 30 mM-pyruvate corresponds to a net generation of about 314 pmol of reducing equivalents/120 min per islet. 6. Pyruvate does not affect the rate of glycolysis, but inhibits the oxidation of glucose. Glucose does not affect pyruvate oxidation. 7. Pyruvate (30 mM) does not affect the concentration of ATP, ADP and AMP in the islet cells. 8. Pyruvate (30 mM) increases the concentration of reduced nicotinamide nucleotides in the presence but not in the absence of glucose. A close correlation is seen between the concentration of reduced nicotinamide nucleotides and the net uptake of 45Ca. Menadione inhibits the effect of pyruvate on insulin release, without altering its rate of oxidation. 9. Pyruvate, like glucose, modestly stimulates lipogenesis. 10. Pyruvate, in contrast with glucose, markedly inhibits the oxidation of endogenous nutrients. The latter effect accounts for the apparent discrepancy between the rate of pyruvate oxidation and the magnitude of its insulinotropic action. 11. Dichloroacetate fails to affect glucose oxidation and glucose-stimulated insulin release. 12. It is concluded that the effect of pyruvate to stimulate insulin release depends on its ability to increase the concentration of reduced nicotinamide nucleotides in the islet cells.

130 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Increases in the free Ca2+ concentration of incubation media using CaCl2-ethylene glycol bis(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N′-tetraacetic acid buffers is shown to increase the steady-state level of active pyruvate dehydrogenase in intact mitochondria, in the absence of added ionophores.

122 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Rat hepatic pyruvate kinase (type L) has been purified to homogeneity by a simple, rapid procedure involving DEAE-cellulose chromatography and elution from a blue Sepharose column and the hypothesis that glucagon regulates pyruVate Kinase activity, at least in part, by a phosphorylation mechanism is supported.

107 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that the matrix is more acid than the medium and that the pH of the matrix rises after glucagon treatment, which stimulates pyruvate transport and the physiological significance of these results in the control of gluconeogenesis is discussed.
Abstract: Glucagon treatment of rats allowed the isolation of liver mitochondria with enhanced rates of pyruvate metabolism measured in either sucrose or KCl media No change in the activity of the pyruvate carrier itself was apparent, but under metabolizing conditions, use of the inhibitor of pyruvate transport, alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate, demonstrated that pyruvate transport limited the rate of pyruvate metabolism The maximum rate of transport under metabolizing conditions was enhanced by glucagon treatment Problems involved in measuring the transmembrane pH gradient under metabolizing conditions are discussed and a variety of techniques are used to estimate the matrix pH From the distribution of methylamine, ammonia and D-lactate and the Ki for inhibition by alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate it is concluded that the matrix is more acid than the medium and that the pH of the matrix rises after glucagon treatment The increase in matrix pH stimulates pyruvate transport The membrane potential, ATP concentration and O2 uptake were also increased under metabolizing conditions in glucagon-treated mitochondria These changes were correlated with a stimulation of the respiratory chain which can be observed in uncoupled mitochondria [Yamazaki (1975) J Biol Chem 250, 7924--7930] The mitochondrial Mg2+ content (mean +/- SEM) was increased from 388 +/- 12 (n = 26) to 475 +/- 20 (n = 26) ng-atoms/mg by glucagon and the K+ content from 1267 +/- 103 (n = 19) ng-atoms/mg This may represent a change in membrane potential induced by glucagon in vivo The physiological significance of these results in the control of gluconeogenesis is discussed

99 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A combination of measurements of metabolic flux rates, the active/total pyruvate dehydrogenase activities, and the tissue levels of various effector molecules of this regulatory system represents an effective approach to a precise determi- nation of the responses of a very complex regulatory system for this multienzyme complex during physiolog- ically meaningful metabolic state changes in cardiac tissue.

90 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that the branched-chain 2-oxo acid dehydrogen enzyme activity is distinct from that of pyruvate dehydrogenase, and that a single complex may oxidize all three branchers of the 3-methylbutyryl-CoA-3-methyl-2-oxopentanoate-1-14C complex.
Abstract: 1. A branched-chain 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase was partially purified from ox liver mitochondria. 2. The preparation oxidized 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate, 3-methyl-2-oxobutyrate and D- and L-3-methyl-2-oxopentanoate. The apparent Km values for the oxo acids and for thiamin pyrophosphate, CoA, NAD+ and Mg2+ were determined. 3. The oxidation of each oxo acid was inhibited by isovaleryl (3-methylbutyryl)-CoA (competitive with CoA) and by NADH (competitive with NAD+); Ki values were determined. 4. The preparation showed substrate inhibition with each 2-oxo acid. The oxidative decarboxylation of 4-methyl-2-oxo[1-14C]pentanoate was inhibited by 3-methyl-2-oxobutyrate and DL-3-methyl-2-oxopentanoate, but not by pyruvate. The Vmax. with 3-methyl-2-oxobutyrate as variable substrate was not increased by the presence of each of the other 2-oxo acids. 5. Ox heart pyruvate dehydrogenase did not oxidize these branched-chain 2-oxo acids and it was not inhibited by isovaleryl-CoA. The branched-chain 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase activity (unlike that of pyruvate dehydrogenase) was not inhibited by acetyl-CoA. 6. It is concluded that the branched-chain 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase activity is distinct from that of pyruvate dehydrogenase, and that a single complex may oxidize all three branched-chain 2-oxo acids.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Activation of pyruvate kinase is important in the co-ordinated regulation of glycolysis in anaerobic or hypoxic conditions, when the change in glyCOlytic flux during the transition from rest to activity needs to be large in order to provide sufficient energy for the contractile activity.
Abstract: 1. Comparison of the maximum activities of pyruvate kinase with those of phosphofructokinase in a large number of muscles from invertebrates and vertebrates indicates that, in general, in any individual muscle, the activity of pyruvate kinase is only severalfold higher than that of phosphofructokinase. This is consistent with the suggestion, based on mass-action ratio data, that the pyruvate kinase reaction is non-equilibrium in muscle. However, the range of activities of pyruvate kinase in these muscles is considerably larger than that of phosphofructokinase. This difference almost disappears if the enzyme activities from muscles that are known to possess an anaerobic ;succinate pathway' are excluded. It is suggested that, in these muscles, phosphofructokinase provides glycolytic residues for both pyruvate kinase (i.e. glycolysis) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (i.e. the succinate pathway). This is supported by a negative correlation between the activity ratio, pyruvate kinase/phosphofructokinase, and the activities of nucleoside diphosphokinase in these muscles, since high activities of nucleoside diphosphokinase are considered to indicate the presence of the succinate pathway. 2. The effect of fructose bisphosphate on the activities of pyruvate kinase from many different muscles was studied. The stimulatory effect of fructose bisphosphate appears to be lost whenever an efficient system for supply of oxygen to the muscles is developed (e.g. insects, squids, birds and mammals). This suggests that activation of pyruvate kinase is important in the co-ordinated regulation of glycolysis in anaerobic or hypoxic conditions, when the change in glycolytic flux during the transition from rest to activity needs to be large in order to provide sufficient energy for the contractile activity. However, lack of this effect in the anaerobic muscles of the birds and mammals suggests that another metabolic control may exist for avian and mammalian pyruvate kinase in these muscles.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The molar ratio of phosphate to alpha-subunits of the decarboxylase was estimated by radioamidination of amino groups of pyruvate dehydrogenase [(32)P]phosphate complex by using methyl [1-(14)C]acetimidate, followed by separation of alpha- subunits by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-disc-gel electrophoresis.
Abstract: 1. The molecular weights of the subunits of purified pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase complex were determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-disc-gel electrophoresis and were: pyruvate decarboxylase, α-subunit 40600, β-subunit 35100; dihydrolipoyl acetyltransferase 76100; dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase 58200. 2. Inactivation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex by its integral kinase corresponded to the incorporation of 0.46nmol of P/unit of complex activity inactivated. 3. Further incorporation of phosphate into the complex occurred to a limit of 1.27nmol of P/unit of complex inactivated (approx. 3 times that required for inactivation). 4. Phosphate was incorporated only into the α-subunit of the decarboxylase. 5. The molar ratio of phosphate to α-subunits of the decarboxylase was estimated by radioamidination of amino groups of pyruvate dehydrogenase [ 32 P]phosphate complex by using methyl [1- 14 C]acetimidate, followed by separation of α-subunits by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-disc-gel electrophoresis. Inactivation of the complex (0.46nmol of P/unit of complex inactivated) corresponded to a molar ratio of one phosphate group per two α-chains (i.e. one phosphate group/α 2 β 2 tetramer). Complete phosphorylation corresponded to three phosphate groups per α 2 β 2 tetramer. 6. Subunit molar ratios in the complex were also estimated by the radioamidination technique. Results corresponded most closely to molar ratios of 4 α-subunits:4 β-subunits:2 dihydrolipoyl acetyltransferase subunits:1 dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase subunit.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The M4-lactate dehydrogenase of the freshwater elasmobranch,Potamotrygon sp.
Abstract: The kinetic properties — apparentKm of pyruvate, pyruvate inhibition pattern, and maximal velocity — of M4 (skeletal muscle) lactate dehydrogenases of marine elasmobranch fishes resemble those of the homologous lactate dehydrogenases of non-elasmobranchs only when physiological concentrations of urea (approximately 400 mM) are present in the assay medium. Urea increases the apparentKm of pyruvate to values typical of other vertebrates (Fig. 2), and reduces pyruvate inhibition to levels seen with other M4-lactate dehydrogenases (Fig. 3). Urea reduces the activation enthalpy of the reaction, and increasesVmax at physiological temperatures (Fig. 4).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that pyruvate dehydrogenase is the rate-limiting step during pyruviate oxidation in the presence of malate, and that in human skeletal muscle mitochondria pyruVate oxidation proceeds maximally both in the absence of malates or carnitine.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The data suggest that the mechanism by which fatty acids stimulate the flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction in perfused liver at low (limiting) pyruVate concentrations involves an acceleration of pyruviate transport into the mitochondrial compartment due to an exchange with acetoacetate.
Abstract: The effect of fatty acids on the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was studied in perfused livers from fed rats. The production of 14CO2 from infused [1-14C]pyruvate was employed as a monitor of the flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction. A correction for other decarboxylation reactions was made using kinetic analyses. Fatty acid (octanoate or oleate) infusion caused a stimulation of pyruvate decarboxylation at pyruvate concentrations in the perfusate below 1 mM (up to 3-fold at 0.05 mM pyruvate) but decreased the rate to one-third of control rates at pyruvate concentrations near 5 mM. These effects were half-maximal at fatty acid concentrations below 0.1 mM. Infusion of 3-hydroxybutyrate also caused a marked stimulation of pyruvate decarboxylation at low pyruvate concentrations. The data suggest that the mechanism by which fatty acids stimulate the flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction in perfused liver at low (limiting) pyruvate concentrations involves an acceleration of pyruvate transport into the mitochondrial compartment due to an exchange with acetoacetate. Furthermore, it is proposed that a relationship exists between ketogenesis and the regulation of pyruvate oxidation at pyruvate concentrations approximating conditions in vivo.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: L-type pyruvate kinase seems to be initially synthesized in the erythroid precursors as an L4' enzyme secondarily partially proteolysed into L2L2' in liver, in which a very active proteolytic system would be responsible for the total transformation into L4 pyruVate Kinase.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The data suggest that reduced pyridine nucleotides generated during glycolysis are oxidized in malate formation and that the electrons generated during pyruvate oxidation are used to reduce fumarate to succinate.
Abstract: Bacteroides succinogenes produces acetate and succinate as major products of carbohydrate fermentation. An investigation of the enzymes involved indicated that pyruvate is oxidized by a flavin-dependent pyruvate cleavage enzyme to acetyl-CoA and CO2. Active CO2 exchange is associated with the pyruvate oxidation system. Reduction of flavin nucleotides is CoASH-dependent and does not require ferredoxin. Acetyl-CoA is further metabolized via acetyl phosphate to acetate and ATP. Reduced flavin nucleotide is used to reduce fumarate to succinate by a particulate flavin-specific fumarate reductase reaction which may involve cytochrome b. Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) is carboxylated to oxalacetate by a GDP- specific PEP carboxykinase. Oxalacetate, in turn, is converted to malate by a pyridine nucleotide-dependent malate dehydrogenase. The organism has a NAD-dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. The data suggest that reduced pyridine nucleotides generated during glycolysis are oxidized in malate formation and that the electrons generated during pyruvate oxidation are used to reduce fumarate to succinate.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Both the rapid decrease in pyruvate kinase activity and the rapid increase in phosphorylation of the enzyme in response to addition of glucagon are consistent with phosphorylations of pyruVate Kinase being a hormone-sensitive biochemical modification to regulate its activity in uivo.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The phosphorylation of sites additional to an inactivating site inhibits the formation of active pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from inactive pyruVate dehydrogensase phosphate complex by pig heartpyruvates dehydrogenases phosphate phosphatase.
Abstract: The phosphorylation of sites additional to an inactivating site inhibits the formation of active pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from inactive pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate complex by pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate phosphatase.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence is given here that the PDH kinase reaction is accelerated in heart mitochondria from alloxan-diabetic or 48 h starved rats by a novel mechanism which does not appear to depend on known metabolite effecters of PDH Kinase.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that phosphorylation plays a major role in the control of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in liver mitochondria but that this mechanism is probably not a factor in pyruVate carboxylase regulation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Changes in activity of the intrinsic kinase and phosphatase of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex of lactating rat mammary gland are not explicable by current theories of regulation of the complex.
Abstract: 1. The ∈itialactivity'ofthepyruvatedehydro≥naseenzymecomp≤x∈who≤tissueormi→chondrialextractsoflactat∈gratmammaryglandswasgreatlydecreasedby24or48h⋆vationoftherats.Injectionof∈s∈––––andglucose∫o⋆vedrats60minbeforeremovaloftheglandsabolishedthisd⇔erence∈∈itialactivity′ofthepyruvatedehydro≥naseenzymecomp≤x∈who≤tissueormi→chondrialextractsoflactat∈gratmammaryglandswasgreatlydecreasedby24or48h⋆vationoftherats.Injectionof∈s∈andglucose∫o⋆vedrats60minbeforeremovaloftheglandsabolishedthisd⇔erence∈initial activities'. 2. The `total activity' of the enzyme complex in such extracts was revealed by incubation in the presence of free Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions (more than 10 and 0.1mm respectively) and a crude preparation of pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase. Starvation did not alter this →talactivity'.Itisas∑edtˆthedecl∈e∈→talactivity′.Itisas∑edtt^hedecl∈e∈initial activity' of the enzyme complex derived from the glands of starved animals was due to increased phosphorylation of its α-subunit by intrinsic pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase. 3. Starvation led to an increase in intrinsic pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity in both whole tissue and mitochondrial extracts. Injection of insulin into starved animals 30min before removal of the lactating mammary glands abolished the increase in pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity in whole-tissue extracts. 4. Pyruvate (1mm) prevented ATP-induced inactivation of the enzyme complex in mitochondrial extracts from glands of fed animals. In similar extracts from starved animals pyruvate was ineffective. 5. Starvation led to a decline in activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase in mitochondrial extracts, but not in whole-tissue extracts. 6. These changes in activity of the intrinsic kinase and phosphatase of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex of lactating rat mammary gland are not explicable by current theories of regulation of the complex.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Determination of the relative configurations and diastereoisomeric purities of the samples of glycerol phosphorothioate demonstrates that all three phosphokinases transfer the thiophosphoryl group with complete stereospecificity, and further shows that these reactions follow an identical stereochemical course.
Abstract: The 2-[18O]phosphorothioate of D-glycerate, chiral at phosphorus, was prepared. The chiral phosphoryl group was transferred enzymically to ADP [by using enolase and pyruvate kinase (ATP:pyruvate 2-O-phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.1.40)] resulting in the synthesis of adenosine 5'-O-([gamma-18O],gamma-thio)triphosphate. This labeled ATP was used as a thiophosphoryl group donor in the reactions catalyzed by glycerol kinase (ATP:glycerol 3-phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.1.30) and by hexokinase (ATP:D-hexose 6-phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.1.1). The product from the latter (glucose 6-phosphorothioate) was converted enzymically into glycerol phosphorothioate. Determination of the relative configurations and diastereoisomeric purities of the samples of glycerol phosphorothioate demonstrates that all three phosphokinases (pyruvate kinase, glycerol kinase, and hexokinase) transfer the thiophosphoryl group with complete stereospecificity, and further shows that these reactions follow an identical stereochemical course.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that different muscle types possess quantitatively and qualitatively different capacities for metabolizing lactate.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Ethanol is identified as the product of soluble enzymes of amoeba acting on pyruvate or acetyl-CoA, confirmed by radioactive isotopic, spectrophotometric and gas-chromatographic methods.
Abstract: The pyruvate-to-ethanol pathway in Entamoeba histolytica is unusual when compared with most investigated organisms. Pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.1), a key enzyme for ethanol production, is not found. Pyruvate is converted into acetyl-CoA and CO2 by the enzyme pyruvate synthase (EC 1.2.7.1), which has been demonstrated previously in this parasitic amoeba. Acetyl-CoA is reduced to acetaldehyde and CoA by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase (acylating) (EC 1.2.1.10) at an enzyme activity of 9 units per g of fresh cells with NADH as a reductant. Acetaldehyde is further reduced by either a previously identified NADP+-linked alcohol dehydrogenase or by a newly found NAD+-linked alcohol dehydrogenase at an enzyme activity of 136 units per g of fresh cells. Ethanol is identified as the product of soluble enzymes of amoeba acting on pyruvate or acetyl-CoA. This result is confirmed by radioactive isotopic, spectrophotometric and gas-chromatographic methods.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A good correlation between the regulation of pyruvate kinase and lactate formation from 10 m m dihydroxyacetone is observed in hepatocytes from fasted rats, and the α-adrenergic antagonist phenoxybenzamine has no influence on the inhibition of the enzyme by epinephrine.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase has been purified to homogeneity from rat liver and is the first mammalian enzyme to contain covalently linked pyruvate.