Respiratory control and the integration of heart high-energy phosphate metabolism by mitochondrial creatine kinase

Mitochondrial boundary membrane contact sites in brain: points of hexokinase and creatine kinase location, and control of Ca2+ transport

The location of hexokinase at the surface of brain mitochondria was investigated by electron microscopy using immuno-gold labelling techniques. The enzyme was located where the two mitochondrial limiting membranes were opposed and contact sites were possible. Disruption of the outer membrane by digitonin did not remove bound hexokinase and creatine kinase from brain mitochondria, although the activity of outer membrane markers and adenylate kinase decreased, suggesting a preferential location of both enzymes in the contact sites. In agreement with that, a membrane fraction was isolated from osmotically lysed rat brain mitochondria in which hexokinase and creatine kinase were concentrated. The density of this kinase-rich fraction was specifically increased by immuno-gold labelling of hexokinase, allowing a further purification by density gradient centrifugation. The fraction was composed of inner and outer limiting membrane components as shown by the specific marker enzymes, succinate dehydrogenase and NADH-cytochrome-c-oxidase (rotenone insensitive). As reported earlier for the enriched contact site fraction of liver mitochondria the fraction from brain mitochondria contained a high activity of glutathione transferase and a low cholesterol concentration. Moreover, the contacts showed a higher Ca2+ binding capacity in comparison to outer and inner membrane fractions. This finding may have regulatory implications because glucose phosphorylation via hexokinase activated the active Ca2+ uptake system and inhibited the passive efflux, resulting in an increase of intramitochondrial Ca2+.

Sustained function of normoxic hearts depleted in ATP and phosphocreatine: a 31P-NMR study

A model of high-energy phosphate depletion was developed in the normoxic isovolumic rat heart perfused with acetate, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG), and insulin. Intracellular phosphorylation of 2DG abstracts phosphorus from its normal pathways. This results in a decrease of high-energy phosphates without any increase in Pi. During the first 15 min of 2DG phosphorylation, the changes in ATP, Pi, and intracellular pH (pHi) were slight, and work was unaltered, although phosphocreatine (PCr) concentration dropped by 50%. After 45 min, the heart reached a new steady state characterized by a drastic reduction in both PCr and ATP: PCr was 15% of control, and in most hearts ATP became invisible on the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. Nevertheless, the heart still developed 65% of its original systolic pressure, whereas diastolic pressure was unchanged. Oxygen consumption per unit work remained constant during 2DG perfusion. This is, to our knowledge, the first experimental model of sustained cardiac contractility at such low contents of both ATP and PCr. However, our results are compatible with present knowledge of the cytosolic energy transfer by PCr and of the control of force in myofilaments.

Possible mechanisms of the anaerobic threshold. A review

The anaerobic threshold consists of a lactate threshold and a ventilatory threshold. In some conditions there may actually be 2 ventilatory thresholds. Much of the work detailing the lactate threshold is strongly based on blood lactate concentration. Since, in most cases, blood lactate concentration does not reflect production in active skeletal muscle, inferences about the metabolic state of contracting muscle will not be valid based only on blood lactate concentration measurements. Numerous possible mechanisms may be postulated as generating a lactate threshold. However, it is very difficult to design a study to influence only one variable. One may ask, does reducing F1O2 cause an earlier occurrence of a lactate threshold during progressive exercise by reducing oxygen availability at the mitochondria? By stimulating catecholamine production? By shifting more blood flow away from tissues which remove lactate from the blood? Or by some other mechanism? Processes considered essential to the generation of a lactate threshold include: (a) substrate utilisation in which the ability of contracting muscle cells to oxidise fats reaches maximal power at lactate threshold; and (b) catecholaminergic stimulation, for without the presence of catecholamines it appears a lactate threshold cannot be generated. Other mechanisms discussed which probably enhance the lactate threshold, but are not considered essential initiators are: (a) oxygen limitation; (b) motor unit recruitment order; (c) lactate removal; (d) muscle temperature receptors; (e) metabolic stimulation; and (f) a threshold of lactate efflux. Some mechanisms reviewed which may induce or contribute to a ventilatory threshold are the effects of: (a) the carotid bodies; (b) respiratory mechanics; (c) temperature; and (d) skeletal muscle receptors. It is not yet possible to determine the hierarchy of effects essential for generating a ventilatory threshold. This may indicate that the central nervous system integrates a broad range of input signals in order to generate a non-linear increase in ventilation. Evidence indicates that the occurrence of the lactate threshold and the ventilatory threshold may be dissociated; sometimes the occurrence of the lactate threshold significantly precedes the ventilatory threshold and at other times the ventilatory threshold significantly precedes the lactate threshold. It is concluded that the 2 thresholds are not subserved by the same mechanism.

Cytoplasmic and mitochondrial arginine kinases in Drosophila: evidence for a single gene

Mitochondrial and cytoplasmic isozymes of arginine kinase have been identified in Drosophila melanogaster. On the basis of their immunological similarity, parallel dosage responses, and cosegregation of electrophoretic mobility differences, it is concluded that both isozymes are the product of a single gene. The consequences of this in relation to the regulation and evolution of this unusual gene-enzyme system are discussed. It is inferred that the origin of the phosphagen shuttle must predate the divergence of invertebrates and vertebrates.

Low affinity binding sites for 1,4-dihydropyridines in mitochondria and in guinea pig ventricular membranes

In this paper, we describe the occurrence of both high and low affinity sites for dihydropyridines in crude membrane preparations from guinea pig ventricular tissue. The physiological significance of the low affinity site (apparent dissociation constant = 76 +/- 9 nM) is not currently known; it has, however, a binding capacity which was 300-1000 times that of the high affinity site and was resistant to heat denaturation. The magnitude of the binding to the low affinity site was affected by both the ionic strength of the medium and by the presence of divalent ions. Both unlabeled nitrendipine and nimodipine inhibited [3H]nitrendipine binding at both sites, but verapamil and diltiazem only affected binding at the high affinity site. We also characterized, both kinetically and by equilibrium binding, a low affinity, heat-stable nitrendipine binding site in purified mitochondria. The Bmax for this site was also dependent on ionic strength. This suggests the possibility that the low affinity site in crude membranes is due to mitochondrial contaminants and hence not directly related to voltage-dependent calcium channels.

Absence of detectable phosphocreatine in rat luteal cells

Previous studies from this laboratory showed that adenosine amplifies the action of luteinizing hormone (LH) severalfold in rat and human luteal cells by an intracellular, adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)-linked process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of phosphocreatine (PCr) and creatine kinase (CK) to the dynamics of luteal ATP metabolism. Levels of PCr in luteinized rat ovaries were similar to those seen in liver but were approximately 1 and 7% of levels found in skeletal and heart muscle, respectively. In isolated rat luteal cells, little detectable PCr was seen after incubation in the presence or absence of adenosine, although cell ATP levels were increased twofold by adenosine treatment. The presence or absence of LH had no effect on either PCr or ATP levels in incubations of isolated luteal cells. Analysis of CK activity in tissue and cell homogenates showed that the specific activity of CK in luteal cells was in the same range as that seen in liver but less than 1/30 of that seen in skeletal muscle. From these studies we conclude that rat luteal cells contain little, if any, PCr and low levels of CK. Thus the rapid changes in ATP levels that are seen in rat luteal tissue and cells may occur because these cells have little capacity to buffer ATP levels with a reservoir of high-energy phosphate groups in the form of PCr.

Regulation of mitochondrial hexokinase in cultured HT 29 human cancer cells. An ultrastructural and biochemical study

The involvement of the mitochondrial bound hexokinase in aerobic glycolysis was investigated in two subpopulations of the HT 29 human colon cancer cell line: a poorly differentiated one with high aerobic lactate production (referred as undifferentiated or standard cells), and an enterocyte-like differentiated one with lower lactate production (referred as differentiated or Glc- cells). After mild digitonin treatment, 85% of the total cellular hexokinase activity remained in the particulate fraction in both cell types. In both cases mitochondria appeared to be tightly coupled but the Glc- cells exhibited a significantly higher oxidation rate in the presence of glucose. Electron microscopy of freeze-fractured cells revealed the absence of contacts between the two limiting mitochondrial membranes in the highly glycolytic standard cells, whereas the contacts were present in the Glc- cells. Furthermore, we investigated the functional relationship between bound hexokinase (as hexokinase-porin complex) and the inner compartment of mitochondria isolated from standard and Glc- HT 29 cells. In contrast to the differentiated cells the hexokinase in undifferentiated standard cells was not functionally coupled to the oxidative phosphorylation. This suggests that the high rate of lactate formation in neoplastic cells is not caused by an increase of particulate hexokinase activity but rather by a disregulation of the hexokinase-porin complex caused by the absence of contact sites between the two mitochondrial membranes. In agreement with this interpretation, the hexokinase-porin complex could be completely removed by digitonin treatment in standard HT 29 cells, while this was not possible in mitochondria from Glc- cells.

Compartmented coupling of chicken heart mitochondrial creatine kinase to the nucleotide translocase requires the outer mitochondrial membrane

The kinetic coupling of mitochondrial creatine kinase (MiMi-CK) to ADP/ATP translocase in chicken heart mitochondrial preparations is demonstrated. Measuring the MiMi-CK apparent Km value for MgATP2- (at saturating creatine) gives a value of 36 microM when MiMi-CK is coupled to oxidative phosphorylation. This Km value is threefold lower than the Km for enzyme bound to mitoplasts or free in solution. The nucleotide translocase Km value for ADP decreases from 20 to 10 microM in the presence of 50 mM creatine only with intact mitochondria. Similar experiments with mitoplasts do not give decreased Km values. The observed Km differences can be used to calculate the concentration of ATP and ADP under steady-state conditions showing that the observed differences in the kinetic constants accurately reflect the enzyme activities of MiMi-CK under the different conditions. The behavior of the Km values provides evidence for what we term compartmented coupling. Therefore, like the rabbit heart system (S. Erickson-Viitanen, P. Viitanen, P. J. Geiger, W. C. T. Yang, and S. P. Bessman (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 14395-14404) compartmented coupling requires an intact outer mitochondrial membrane. The apparent Km values for normal or compartmentally coupled systems can be used to calculate steady-state values of ATP and ADP by coupling enzyme theory. Hence, the overall kinetic parameters accurately reflect the behavior of the enzymes whether free in solution or in the intermembrane space.

Effects of the anti-cancer drug adriamycin on the energy metabolism of rat heart as measured by in vivo 31P-NMR and implications for adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity

In vivo 31P-NMR was used to measure the effects of the anti-tumor drug adriamycin on the energy metabolism of rat heart. The exclusive acquisition of NMR signal from cardiac muscle was assured by positioning a solenoidal radio-frequency NMR coil around the heart. Appropriate control experiments verified that 31P-NMR spectra solely originated from this organ. Acute effects occurring shortly after adriamycin administration are expressed in 31P spectra as a dose-dependent decline in the cardiac levels of phosphocreatine, after which stabilization at a new steady-state level occurs. These acute effects of a single dose are complete in 30-60 min and no significant further changes take place within 150 min after drug introduction. Longer-term effects of single high doses and of multiple lower doses were measured up to a week after the initiation of treatment. It seemed that at a total dose of 20 mg/kg, drug-induced interference with cardiac energy metabolism was more pronounced than at the same dose in the acute phase. These 31P-NMR data demonstrate that adriamycin treatment is accompanied by a decrease of the cardiac phosphocreatine/ATP ratio which might be an expression of the well-established cardiotoxicity of the drug.

Analysis of compartmentation of ATP in skeletal and cardiac muscle using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance saturation transfer

We have developed a model for the analysis of the forward creatine kinase reaction in muscle as measured by the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique of magnetization transfer. The model, accounting for the double-exponential behavior observed in some NMR magnetization transfer data, allows for the existence of two ATP pools, one that is NMR-visible (NMR-VIS) and another that is NMR-invisible (NMR-INVIS). We have applied the model to experimental data for the forward creatine kinase reaction in skeletal and cardiac muscles to study the dependence of the creatine kinase rate constants and fluxes on workload and to account for the differences between heart and skeletal muscle. The results suggest that an NMR-distinct ATP pool exists in both heart and skeletal muscles, and that phosphate exchange with this pool catalyzed by creatine kinase increases with increased workload. The results also agree with previously published estimates of the rates of mitochondrial translocase and net ATP synthesis obtained by traditional biochemical methods.

The preventive effect of verapamil on ethanol-induced cardiac depression: phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance and high-pressure liquid chromatographic studies of hamsters

Alcoholic depression of left ventricular function was produced in normal hamsters by the administration of increasing concentrations of alcohol in drinking water (up to 50%) for 6 months. The result was assessed by phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance of isolated perfused hearts and high-pressure liquid chromatography of freeze-clamped tissues. Hemodynamic data and myocardial oxygen consumption were also monitored. Alcoholic hamsters had significantly higher inorganic phosphate and lower ATP levels, while maintaining normal intracellular pH, phosphocreatine, and creatine. Although coronary flow and oxygen consumption were maintained at normal levels, hamsters ingesting 50% ethanol had significantly lower left ventricular developed pressure and dP/dt. Treatment with verapamil during long-term ethanol consumption prevented the development of these metabolic and functional abnormalities. It is hypothesized that alcohol produces membrane abnormalities leading to adverse ion flux, and that these are largely prevented by concurrent administration of verapamil.

S-thiolation of cytoplasmic cardiac creatine kinase in heart cells treated with diamide

Two methods for quantitation of protein S-thiolation, by isoelectric focusing or by enzyme activity, were used for studying S-thiolation of cytoplasmic cardiac creatine kinase. With these methods, creatine kinase was identified as a major S-thiolated protein in both bovine and rat heart. In rat heart cell cultures, creatine kinase became 10% S-thiolated during a 10 min incubation with 0.2 mM diamide. This enzyme became S-thiolated more slowly than other heart cell proteins and it also dethiolated more slowly. Two sequential additions of diamide at a 25 min interval caused twice as much S-thiolation after the second addition as compared to the first. This increased sensitivity to the second diamide treatment may have resulted from glutathione loss during the first addition which produced a higher GSSG-to-GSH ratio after the second treatment. The GSSG-to-GSH ratio was highest prior to the maximum S-thiolation of creatine kinase, but, in general, the time course of glutathione was similar to the S-thiolation of creatine kinase. This study demonstrates that cytoplasmic creatine kinase is S-thiolated and, therefore, inhibited during a diamide-induced oxidative stress in heart cells. Implications for regulation of cardiac metabolism during oxidative stress are discussed.

Substrate-dependent functional defects and altered mitochondrial respiratory capacity in hearts from guinea pigs with iron deficiency anemia

Iron deficiency anemia was induced by dietary means in weanling guinea pigs. A 25% higher ventricular wall mass per 100 g body mass was seen after 6 weeks of feeding. Myocardial performance was determined in isolated perfused hearts using an isovolumic Langendorff preparation. All hearts exhibited a 25% decrease in left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and decreased dP/dt when substrate was switched from 10 mM pyruvate to 16.6 mM glucose. The glucose reduction in LVDP resulted from decreased systolic pressure, which completely reversed when hearts again metabolized pyruvate. With glucose as substrate, left ventricular developed pressure-end diastolic volume relationships were indistinguishable. However, with pyruvate, iron-deficient hearts appeared to be less responsive to the increased energy demands required by elevated diastolic volumes. Rates of state 3 respiration were 18% below control with glutamate + malate as substrate, and 38% lower with pyruvate + malate in mitochondria isolated from anemic animals. No differences in respiration were noted with succinate. Cytochrome a + a3 content, cytochrome oxidase activity and total mitochondrial protein content appeared to be unchanged. In contrast, cytochromes b, c + c1, and the flavoproteins were significantly decreased. The data suggest that iron deficiency anemia induces cardiac hypertrophy with a fixed but defective mitochondrial population, potentially placing the heart in an energetic imbalance. These differences in mitochondrial function were expressed by decreased myocardial performance when the heart metabolizes pyruvate, an exclusively aerobic substrate.

Specific inhibition of ATP-ADP translocase in cardiac mitoplasts by antibodies against mitochondrial creatine kinase

Mitochondrial creatine kinase was purified from rat hearts and used to produce antibodies in chicken and rabbits. Antibodies were purified to a high degree of homogeneity by an affinity chromatography method. Chicken antibodies against mitochondrial creatine kinase inhibited this enzyme in rat-heart mitochondrial inner membrane and matrix preparation, and simultaneously blocked oxidative phosphorylation. Under these conditions respiratory chain activities remained unchanged, but adenine nucleotide translocase was inhibited. Removal of mitochondrial creatine kinase from the membrane by pretreatment with 0.15 M KCl and 20 mM ADP completely abolished the effect of antibodies against mitochondrial creatine kinase on oxidative phosphorylation. Noninhibitory antibodies from rabbit with high affinity to rat mitochondrial creatine kinase inhibited neither creatine kinase activity nor oxidative phosphorylation. These data show close and specific spatial arrangement of mitochondrial creatine kinase and adenine nucleotide translocase in mitochondria. It is supposed that there is a fixed orientation of these proteins in the cardiolipin domain in the membrane and that their interaction may occur by a frequent collision due to their lateral movement.

Effect of creatine depletion on myocardial mechanics

The physiological significance of energy transport by means of shuttling creatine (C) and creatine phosphate (CP) between mitochondria and the energy utilizing sites was examined in C-depleted rat hearts. Feeding a diet containing structural analogues of C [either 1% guanidinoproprionic acid (GPA) or 2% guanidinobutyric acid (GBA)] led to the decrease of total myocardial C (C + CP) by 78% and 75% after seven weeks and by 89% and 82% after ten weeks. Mechanics of isolated papillary muscles were examined under isometric conditions at different temperatures, muscle lengths and frequencies of stimulation. No differences were found in the basic characteristics of contraction and relaxation among the hearts of normal, GPA- and GBA-treated rats at low workloads. However, when paired stimulation was applied, the interval at which fusion occurred was significantly longer in C-depleted than in controls. At high workloads, the developed force (DF) in C-depleted decreased in the same way as in controls, but its subsequent recovery took significantly longer and the recovered DF in C-depleted muscles was smaller than in controls. We conclude that C depletion has greater effects on the excitation to contraction coupling and recovery rather than on the DF during stimulation at high frequencies.

Multiple controls of oxidative metabolism in living tissues as studied by phosphorus magnetic resonance

Three types of metabolic control of oxidative metabolism are observed in the various tissues that have been studied by phosphorous magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The principal control of oxidative metabolism in skeletal muscle is by ADP (or Pi/phosphocreatine). This conclusion is based upon studies of arm muscles of humans during steady-state exercise. A work-cost (Vm vs. Pi/phosphocreatine) relationship follows a Michaelis-Menten rectangular hyperbola, where Km values from 0.5 to 0.6 and Vmax values from 50 to 200 (at nearly constant pH) are found in linearized plots of the equation V/Vmax = 1/(1 + 0.6 phosphocreatine/Pi) where V is work level (which is equal to the velocity of the enzymatic reaction) and Vmax is the maximal work capacity that is a measure of the enzyme activity (E) of oxidative metabolism. Adaptation to exercise enhances the slope of the work-cost relationship and causes large changes in Vmax or E. A second metabolic control may enhance the slope of the work-cost relationship but not Vmax. For example, the initiation of exercise can lead to an improved characteristic that can be explained by 2-fold increased substrate delivery, for example, increased oxygen delivery by microcirculatory control. Cardiac tissue of the adult dog affords an example of optimal endurance performance adaptation and exhibits the steepest work-cost relationship observed and is attributed to a coordinated control of substrate delivery that may involve Ca2+ and inorganic phosphate control of NADH; control of O2 delivery may also be involved. The calculated work-cost relationship is similar to that observed in the beagle heart. The theoretical curve illustrates that the liability of multiple controls is a sharp break point in metabolic control at the end of the multiple control range--a possible cause of instability of cardiac performance at high V/Vmax.

Mechanism of adenosine production by isolated rat heart mitochondria

Adenosine production by isolated rat heart mitochondria was examined and was observed to be dependent on an active adenine nucleotide transporter and a functional 5'-nucleotidase. It was found that mitochondria do not transport adenosine. These results suggest that mitochondria provide AMP for an extramitochondrial 5'-nucleotidase and this was verified by direct measurement of extramitochondrial levels of AMP and adenosine. A possible role for mitochondria in myocardial adenosine production is discussed.

Heart mitochondria in physiological salt solution: not ionic strength but salt composition is important for association of creatine kinase with the inner membrane surface

In physiological salt solution (PSS) which mimicks the cardiac cells cytoplasm and contains 120 mM K-MES, 10 mM NaCl, 20 mM imidazole, pH 7.2, 20 mM taurine, 15 mM creatine, 15 mM Na2phosphocreatine, 5 mM Na2ATP, 8 mM MgCl2, 5 mM K2HPO4, 3 mM glutamate, 3 mM malate, 0.5 mM dithiothreitol and 10 mg/ml of bovine serum albumine both isolated mitochondria and intracellular structures in skinned fibers stay intact. In PSS mitochondrial creatine kinase remains firmly attached to the inner membrane surface. CKmi-mi is extracted from cardiac mitoplasts in 0.125 M KCl solution, but addition of 10 mM sodium borate to this KCl solution completely inhibits dissociation of CKmi-mi. Therefore, not ionic strength but ion composition is important for association of CKmi-mi with mitochondrial membrane. Functional and structural studies using antibodies against CKmi-mi showed that in PSS CKmi-mi is bound to the inner mitochondrial membrane in spatially close relationship to adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT). Thus, under physiological conditions CKmi-mi is structurally and functionally coupled to ANT in cardiac mitochondria and functions to catalyze almost complete utilization of mitochondrial ATP for aerobic phosphocreatine synthesis.

Compartmentation of high-energy phosphates in resting and beating heart cells

The subcellular distribution of ATP, ADP, creatine phosphate and creatine has been analyzed by fast detergent fractionation of isolated frog heart cells. Digitonin fractionation (0.5 mg/ml, 10 s at 2 degrees C in 20 mM 4-morpholinepropanesulfonic acid/3 mM EDTA/230 mM mannitol medium) was used to separate mitochondria and myofilaments from cytosol. To separate myofilaments from the other cellular compartments. Triton X-100 was used (2%, 15 s in the same medium as digitonin). For either resting or beating cells the total cellular contents of ATP, ADP, creatine phosphate and creatine was similar, nevertheless the O2 consumption was 6-times higher. The compartmentation of these metabolites was also identical. Myofilaments contain 1.1 nmol ADP per mg total cellular proteins. In the cytosolic compartment the metabolite concentrations, all measured in nmol per mg total cellular proteins, were: ATP, 13; ADP, 0.25-0.05; creatine phosphate, 18.5 and creatine, 14. This indicated that the reaction catalyzed by creatine kinase was in a state of (or near) equilibrium.

Relation between work and phosphate metabolite in the in vivo paced mammalian heart

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to monitor, on a beat-to-beat basis, the concentration of creatine phosphate and adenosine triphosphate during alterations in the work output of canine hearts in vivo. Over a wide range of rate-pressure products (5,000 to 25,000 mmHg/min), the relative amounts of creatine phosphate and adenosine triphosphate within the heart remained constant. The relative concentration of free adenosine diphosphate was calculated under the reasonable assumption that the creatine kinase-catalyzed reaction is near equilibrium in this tissue. The free concentration of adenosine diphosphate also did not change over this range of rate-pressure products. The data demonstrate that the concentration of these compounds is highly regulated in vivo and suggest that factors other than their concentration may be involved in the modulation of steady-state myocardial work output with oxygen consumption.

Regulation of adenosine formation by the heart

We think that the available data on adenosine formation suggest the two signals are responsible for adenosine release from cardiac myocytes: (1) the ratio of oxygen supply to demand and (2) agonist-triggered release of extracellular adenine nucleotides. We do not believe that the available data support the oxygen consumption hypothesis. The few studies which allow us to judge the relative importance of these two signals suggest that both hypoxia and sympathetic nerve stimulation release adenosine primarily by decreasing O2 supply:demand. Agonist triggered nucleotide release may be quantitatively important in situations in which decreased O2 supply/demand cannot explain increased release, i.e., isoproterenol and acetylcholine administration.

Theoretical support for the heart phosphocreatine energy transport shuttle based on the intracellular diffusion limited mobility of ADP

Flux rates for phosphate metabolites were calculated using the equation for radial diffusion, assuming heart intracellular conditions and a 5% concentration gradient. The data show that while the flux of phosphocreatine is about 3 times faster than ATP, both are more than two orders of magnitude greater than the known maximum rate of ATP utilization. In contrast, since the concentration of free ADP is very low, its flux is below the maximum rate of ATP turnover, while the flux of creatine is almost 3 orders of magnitude greater than ADP. The data suggest that the rate of high-energy phosphate production could be limited by ADP diffusion, with creatine thus substituting as the primary cytoplasmic-mitochondrial phosphate acceptor.

Control of oxidative metabolism and oxygen delivery in human skeletal muscle: a steady-state analysis of the work/energy cost transfer function

The concept of transfer function for organ performance (work output vs. biochemical input) is developed for skeletal and cardiac muscle under steady-state exercise conditions. For metabolic control by the ADP concentration, the transfer function approximates a Michaelis-Menten hyperbola. Variation of the work identifies metabolic operating points on the transfer function corresponding to ADP concentrations or to a ratio of inorganic phosphate to phosphocreatine that can be determined by phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance. This operating point is characterized by the fraction (V/Vmax) of maximal activity of oxidative metabolism in the steady state. This quantity appears to be useful in predicting the degree to which metabolic homeostasis is effective; poorly controlled metabolic states can readily be identified and are used in the diagnosis and therapy of metabolic disease in the organs of neonates and adults.

Increased mitochondrial creatine kinase in chronically stimulated fast-twitch rabbit muscle

Fractional extraction and isozyme electrophoresis revealed the presence of small amounts (2.5% of total cellular activity) of mitochondrial creatine kinase (CK) in rabbit fast-twitch muscle. Chronic nerve stimulation resulted in a decrease of extramitochondrial MM-CK to 60% of its normal value but induced an approx. 4-fold increase in mitochondrial CK. This increase occurred in parallel with the rise in enzyme activities of terminal substrate oxidation.