Regulation of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase in Rat Liver Mitochondria by Phosphorylation-Dephosphorylation

Studies on the influence of fatty acids on pyruvate dehydrogenase interconversion in rat-liver mitochondria

1. The effect of fatty acids on the interconversion of pyruvate dehydrogenase between its active (nonphosphorylated) and inactive (phosphorylated) forms was measured in rat liver mitochondria respiring in state 3 with pyruvate plus malate and 2-oxoglutarate plus malate and during state 4 to state 3 transition in the presence of different substrates. The content of intramitochondrial adenine nucleotides was determined in the parallel experiments. 2. Decrease of the intramitochondrial ATP/ADP ratio with propionate and its increase with palmitoyl-L-carnitine in state 3 is accompanied by a shift of the steady-state of the pyruvate dehydrogenase system towards the active or the inactive form, respectively. 3. Transition from the high energy state (state4) to the active respiration (state3) in mitochondria oxidizing 2-oxoglutarate or plamitoyl-L-carnitine causes an increase of the amount of the active form of pyruvate dehydrogenase due to the decrease of ATP/ADP ratio in the matrix. 4. No change in ATP/ADP ratio can be observed in the presence of octanoate in mitochondria oxidizing pyruvate or 2-oxoglutarate in state 3 or during state 4 to state 3 transition. Simultanelusly, no significant change in phosphorylation state of pyruvate dehydrogenase occurs and a low amount of the enzyme in the active form is present with octanoate or octanoate plus 2-oxoglutarate. Pyruvate abolishes this effect of octanoate and shifts the steady-state of pyruvate dehydrogenase system towards the active form. 5. These results indicate that fatty acids influence the interconversion of pyruvate dehydrogenase mainly by changing intramitochondrial ATP/ADP ratio. However, the comparison of the steady-state level of the pyruvate dehydrogenase system in the presence of different substrates in various metabolic conditions provides some evidence that accumulation of acetyl-CoA and high level of NADH may promote the phosphorylation of pyruvate dehydrogenase. 6. Pyruvate exerts its protective effect against phosphorylation of pyruvate dehydrogenase in the presence of fatty acids of short, medium or long chain in a manner which depends on its concentration. It is suggested that in isolated mitochondria pyruvate counteracts the effect of acetyl-CoA and NADH on pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase.

Energy-linked regulation of glucose and pyruvate oxidation in isolated perfused rat heart. Role of pyruvate dehydrogenase

1. The regulation of glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation under varying conditions of ATP and oxygen consumption was studied in isolated perfused rat hearts. Potassium-induced arrest was employed to inhibit the ATP consumption of the heart. 2. Under the experimental conditions, the beating heart used solely glucose as the oxidisable substrate. The glycolytic flux through the aldolase step decreased in pace with the decreasing oxygen consumption during the potassium-induced arrest of the heart. The decrease in glucose oxidation was larger than the inhibition of the oxygen consumption, suggesting that the arrested heart switches to fatty acid oxidation. The time course and percentage changes of the inhibition of pyruvate oxidation and the decrease in the amount of the active form of pyruvate dehydrogenase suggest that the amount of active pyruvate dehydrogenase is the main regulator of pyruvate oxidation in the perfused heart. 3. To test the relative significance of the possible mechanisms regulating covalent interconversions of pyruvate dehydrogenase, the following parameters were measured in response to the potassium-induced cardiac arrest: concentrations of pyruvate, acetyl-CoA, CoA-SH, citrate, alpha-oxoglutarate, ATP, ADP, AMP, creatine, creatine phosphate and inorganic phosphate and the mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio. In cardiac tissue the adenylate system is not a good indicator of the energy state of the mitochondrion, even when the concentrations of AMP and free cytosolic ADP are calculated from the adenylate kinase and creatine kinase equilibria. Only creatine phosphate and inorganic phosphate undergo significant changes, but evidence of the participation of the latter compounds in the regulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase interconversions is lacking. The potassium-induced arrest of the heart resulted in a decrease in pyruvate, a slight increase in acetyl-CoA, a large increase in the concentration of citrate and an increase in the mitochondrial NADH/NAD+. The results can be interpreted as showing that in the heart, the pyruvate dehydrogenase interconversions are mainly regulated by the pyruvate concentration and the mitochondrial redox state. Concentrations of all the regulators tested shifted to directions which one would expect to result in a decrease in the amount of active pyruvate dehydrogenase, but the changes were quite small. Therefore, the energy-linked regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase in intact tissue is possibly mediated by the equilibrium relations between the cellular redox state and the phosphorylation potential recently confirmed in cardiac tissue.

Aspects of ketogenesis: control and mechanism of ketone-body formation in isolated rat-liver mitochondria

The synthesis of ketone bodies by intact isolated rat-liver mitochondria has been studied at varying rates of acetyl-CoA production and of acetyl-CoA utilization in the Krebs cycle. Factors which enhanced the rate of acetyl-CoA production caused an increase in the fraction of acetyl-CoA which was incorporated into ketone bodies. On the other hand, it was found that factors which stimulated the formation of citrate lowered the relative rate of ketogenesis. It is concluded that acetyl-CoA is preferentially used for citrate synthesis, if the level of oxaloacetate in the mitochondrial matrix space is adequate. The intramitochondrial level of oxaloacetate, which is determined by the malate concentration and the ratio of NADH over NAD+, is the main factor controlling the rate of citrate synthesis. The ATP/ADP ratio per se does not affect the activity of citrate synthase in this in vitro system. Ketogenesis can be described as an overflow of acetyl-groups: Ketone-body formation is stimulated only when the rate of acetyl-CoA production increases beyond the capacity for citrate synthesis. The interaction between fatty acid oxidation and pyruvate metabolism and the effects of long-chain acyl-CoA on mitochondrial metabolism are discussed. Ketone bodies which were generated during the oxidation of [1-14C] fatty acids were preferentially labelled in their carboxyl group. This carboxyl group had the same specific activity as the acetyl-CoA pool, whereas the specific activity of the acetone moiety of acetoacetate was much lower, especially at low rates of ketone-body formation. The activities of acetoacetyl-CoA deacylase and the hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) pathway were compared in soluble and mitochondrial fractions of rat- and cow-liver in different ketotic states. In rat-liver mitochondria, both pathways of acetoacetate synthesis were stimulated upon starvation or in alloxan diabetes. In cow liver, only the HMG-CoA pathway was increased during ketosis in the mitochondrial as well as in the soluble fraction.

Regulation of mammalian pyruvate dehydrogenase

In mammalian tissues, two types of regulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex have been described: end product inhibition by acetyl CoA and NADH: and the interconversion of an inactive phosphorylated form and an active nonphosphorylated form by an ATP requiring kinase and a specific phosphatase. This article is largely concerned with the latter type of regulation of the complex in adipose tissue by insulin (and other hormones) and in heart muscle by lipid fuels. Effectors of the two interconverting enzymes include pyruvate and ADP which inhibit the kinase, acetoin which activates the kinase and Ca2+ and Mg2+ which both activate the phosphatase and inhibit the kinase. Evidence is presented that all components of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex including the phosphatase and kinase are located within the inner mitochondrial membrane. Direct measurements of the matrix concentration of substrates and effectors is not possible by techniques presently available. This is the key problem in the identification of the mechansims involved in the alterations in pyruvate dehydrogenase activity observed in adipose tissue and muscle. A number of indirect approaches have been used and these are reviewed. Most hopeful is the recent finding in this laboratory that in both adipose tissue and heart muscle, differences in activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase in the intact tissue persist during preparation and subsequent incubation of mitochondria.

Effect of glutamate on the control of fatty-acid synthesis in white adipose tissue of the rat. Inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase

Glutamate (5mM) inhibited glucose conversion to fatty acids by approximately one-third in adipocytes from fed rats. This inhibition was significantly less in the pressence of pyruvate or 2-oxoglutarate. After incubation of adipose tissue from fed rats with glucose and insulin, pyruvate dehydrogenase activity was 180 plus or minus 17 mU/g wet weight. Addition of glutamine to the incubation medium decreased this activity significantly (118 plus or minus 14 mU/g wet weight). This inhibition by glutamate was also diminished when 2-oxoglutarate or pyruvate were present. Glutamate added to homohentates of adipose tissue had no effect on the activation of pyruvate dehydrogenase by Mg-2+. However, glutamate inhibited the active form of the enzyme and enhanced the rate of inactivation of the enzyme complex by ATP and Mg-2+. Aminooxyacetate, a transaminase inhibitor, did not reverse the effects of glutamate on pyruvate dehydrogenase nor fatty acid synthesis.

Absence of pyruvate decarboxylase activity in man: a cause of congenital lactic acidosis

A complete deficiency in the pyruvate dehydrogenase system activity contributed to the death of a 6-month-old infant with congenital lactic acidosis. The enzymatic block could be isolated to the first component, pyruvate decarboxylase (E1) of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. This enzymatic deficiency allowed a demonstration of an "intercomplex" exchange of the components of the mammalian pyruvate dehydrogenase system and indicated that the first component is normally present in an apparent excess.