Initial reaction kinetics of succinate dehydrogenase in mouse liver studied with a real-time image analyser system

Quantitative assessment of succinate dehydrogenase activity of rat lateral pterygoid muscle in undecalcified fresh-frozen section

The quantitative assessment of enzyme activities in situ in single muscle fibres is essential for understanding the functions of skeketal muscles. The function of the lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM) is not fully understood because it is a deeply located masticatory muscle and cannot be dissected in an intact configuration. Here we report how to measure the activities of mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in single muscle fibres in situ in the LPM in sections of rat heads. Unfixed head sections were incubated on gel films containing SDH substrate and nitroblue tetrazolium. During incubation, images of the section due to deposition of the final reaction products, formazans, were captured at intervals of 10 s using a real-time image analysis system for absorbance measurements. We found that the belly of the LPM consisted of four areas with different mean activities of SDH. The lateral and upper areas of the muscle showed similarly high SDH activities. Mean activity in the lower area was the lowest, about half of those of the lateral and upper areas. These results agree with the hypothesis that the superior head of the LPM participates in more continuous contraction and is more resistant to fatigue than the inferior head.

Changes in succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity in Paramecium caudatum cells in culture as function of age

SDH activity and its frequency distributions were determined cytophotometrically to investigate the change in respiratory oxidative energy metabolism in Paramecium caudatum (P. caudatum) cell populations during their growth in cell culture. Cells from 3 separate cultures were examined on day 2, 5 and 11 post-inoculation as measures of logarithmic, early and late stationary phases, respectively. SDH activity per individual cell is expressed as the increase in total absorbance (TA) at 590 nm of nitroblue tetrazolium (Nitro BT) formazans per min per cell area in a specimen (deltaTA/min/microm2) to exclude the influence of cell size on the data. On day 5, the mean SDH activity was higher, being approx 140% of that on day 2 and decreased significantly to only approx 11% at day 11. As the mean SDH activity rose, a certain portion of the cells demonstrated a wider range of activity than on day 2 leading to an increase in the width of the SDH activity-frequency distribution. Moreover, on day 11, approx 85% of cells shifted toward the lowest range of activity with further increase in width of the distribution as the mean activity declined. These findings suggest that the respiratory oxidative energy metabolism in P. caudatum cells rise while the cells change from logarithmic to early stationary phases and decays during late stationary phase with increase in its extent of variety within cell populations.

A quantitative histochemical study of alkaline phosphatase activity in isolated rat duodenal epithelial cells

A simple separation method enabling the quantification of alkaline phosphatase activity in unfixed, isolated, individual, duodenal epithelial cells has been presented. The activity of intestinal brush border-bound alkaline phosphatase has been demonstrated using naphthol AS-BI phosphate as a substrate and hexazotized New Fuchsin as a simultaneous coupling agent. The amount of final reaction product, as measured cytophotometrically, increases linearly with incubation time (up to 10 min) and with substrate concentration (up to 0.4 mM). Maximum enzyme activity was obtained at pH 8.9. Variation of the substrate concentration revealed the kinetic parameters for naphthol AS-BI phosphate as Km = 0.17 i 0.015 and Vmax = 13.9 +/- 1.38. The specificity of the enzyme reaction was confirmed by the complete inhibition of the enzyme activity in the presence of L-cysteine (10 mm) and 80% inhibition with L-phenylalanine (30 mM). Comparison of alkaline phosphatase activity in 8-microm cryostat sections (beginning at the tip and proceeding to the cryptal part) along the villus axis, with the activity of individual cells obtained by successive separation, revealed similar values of the percentage quotient derived from the entire activities in these two different methods. This suggests that the presented separation procedure gives rise to isolation of the respective cells from the corresponding areas of the villus. Finally, the isolated cells can be used as a valuable tool for the quantitative analysis of alkaline phosphatase activity along the length of the villus.

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity in single Paramecium caudatum cells

We measured in situ the activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), one of the mitochondrial marker enzymes, in single Paramecium cells. SDH activity was detected with nitroblue tetrazolium (Nitro BT). Images of cells were captured every 30 sec at 590 nm, nearly the isosbestic wavelength of two reduction products of Nitro BT, by using a microphotometric system for image analysis. Activity was estimated by the slope of linear regression lines representing the relationship between total absorbance of the processed image and delta reaction time (real reaction time minus 30 sec). To investigate individual differences in Paramecium cell populations, SDH activity was measured in cells at various succinate concentrations. Paramecium SDH showed bimodal activity distribution patterns at three of four succinate concentrations tested. This result suggests that there are two groups of Paramecium populations with different SDH activity under control culture conditions. On the basis of the relationship between SDH activity and succinate concentration, mean Vmax and apparent Km values were estimated. A Km of 3.2 mM was found for Paramecium.

Analysis of enzyme reactions in situ

Estimations of metabolic rates in cells and tissues and their regulation on the basis of kinetic properties of enzymes in diluted solutions may not be applicable to intact living cells or tissues. Enzymes often behave differently in living cells because of the high cellular protein content that can lead to homologous and heterologous associations of protein molecules. These associations often change the kinetics of enzymes as part of post-translational regulation mechanisms. An overview is given of these interactions between enzyme molecules or between enzyme molecules and structural elements in the cell, such as the cytoskeleton. Biochemical and histochemical methods are discussed that have been developed for in vivo and in situ analyses of enzyme reactions, particularly for the study of effects of molecular interactions. Quantitative (histochemical) analysis of local enzyme reactions or fluxes of metabolites has become increasingly important. At present, it is possible to calculate local concentrations of substrates in cells or tissue compartments and to express local kinetic parameters in units that are directly comparable with those obtained by biochemical assays of enzymes in suspensions. In situ analysis of the activities of a number of enzymes have revealed variations in their kinetic properties (Km and Vmax) in different tissue compartments. This stresses the importance of in vivo or in situ analyses of cellular metabolism. Finally, histochemical determinations of enzyme activity in parallel with immunohistochemistry for the detection of the total number of enzyme molecules and in situ hybridization of its messenger RNA allow the analysis of regulation mechanisms at all levels between transcription of the gene and post-translational activity modulation.

The initial reaction velocities of lactate dehydrogenase in various cell types

The initial reaction velocities (vi) of lactate dehydrogenase in hepatocytes, cardiac muscle fibres, skeletal (gastrocnemius) muscle fibres, gastric parietal cells, ductal epithelial and acinar cells of the parotid gland, and oocytes were determined, by computer-assisted image analysis, in unfixed sections of these tissues incubated at 37 degrees C on substrate-containing agarose gel films. They were found to fit the equations vi = a1 zero A (equation 1) and vi-v = a2 zero A (equation 2) reported previously for mouse hepatocytes (Nakae & Stoward, 1993a, b), where v and zero A are, respectively, the gradients (or steady-state velocities) and the intercepts on the absorbance axis of the linear regression lines of the absorbance (A) of the final reaction product on incubation times between 1 and 3 min, and a1 and a2 are constants. Both equations 1 and 2 fitted the observed vi closely for mouse (a1 = 2.7, a2 = 2.2) and human (a1 = 3.0, a2 = 1.9) hepatocytes. However, equation 2 fitted the observed vi better than equation 1 for mouse cardiac muscle fibres (a1 = 1.5), skeletal muscle fibres (a2 = 1.2), gastric parietal cells (a2 = 1.7), acinar (a2 = 1.4) and striated ductal (a2 = 2.2) epithelial cells of the parotid gland, and oocytes (a2 = 1.6). The values of vi calculated from the two equations agreed with the observed vi to within about 11%. They ranged from 105 mumole hydrogen equivalents/cm3 cell/min units in hepatocytes to 24 units in parotid acinar cells, but for other cell types they were between 46 and 61 units. These are all considerably higher than values reported previously.

The diverse Michaelis constants and maximum velocities of lactate dehydrogenase in situ in various types of cell

The kinetics of lactate dehydrogenase in mouse cardiac muscle fibres, skeletal muscle fibres, gastric parietal cells, parotid gland ductal and acinar cells, oocytes and mouse and human hepatocytes were studied as a function of substrate concentration in sections of unfixed mouse and human tissues incubated at 37 degrees C on lactate agarose gel films. The absorbances of the final reaction products deposited in single cells of various types were measured continuously as a function of incubation time using an image analysis system. The initial velocities (vi) of the dehydrogenase were calculated from two equations deduced previously by us, vi = a1 zero A (equation 1) and vi = v + a2 zero A (equation 2), where v and zero A are, respectively, the gradient (steady-state velocity) and intercept of the linear regression line of absorbance on time for incubation times between 1 and 3 min, and a1 and a2 are constants characteristic for each cell type. Hanes plots using vi calculated from equation 2 gave more consistent estimates of the Michaelis constant (Km) and the maximum reaction velocity (Vmax) than those employing either steady-state velocity measurements or vi calculated from equation 1. The Km thus found for mouse skeletal muscle fibres (10.4-12.5 mM) and hepatocytes (14.3-16.7 mM) agreed well with values determined previously in biochemical assays. However, the Km for cardiac muscle fibres (13.4 mM) was higher. The Km of the enzyme in gastric parietal cells, parotid gland cells and oocytes was in the range 7.6-9.7 mM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Kinetic analysis of lactate dehydrogenase in situ in mouse liver determined with a quantitative histochemical technique

The kinetics of lactate dehydrogenase in situ were studied in sections of unfixed liver of the male mouse using a quantitative histochemical technique. The sections were incubated on substrate-containing gel films. The absorbance of the final reaction products deposited in a single hepatocyte was measured continuously during the incubation as a function of incubation time using a scanning microdensitometer. The absorbance increased non-linearly during the first minute of incubation, but linearly for at least the next 3 min afterwards. The initial velocity (vi) of the dehydrogenase was calculated from two equations proposed previously by us, vi = 2.82 degrees A and vi = vi + 2 degrees A, where vi and degrees A are, respectively, the gradient and intercept of the linear regression line of absorbance on time for incubation times between 1 and 3 min. The dependence of vi on lactate concentration gave the following mean kinetic constants. For periportal hepatocytes, the apparent Km = 14 mM and Vmax = 80 mumoles hydrogen equivalents formed cm-3 hepatocyte cytoplasm min-1. For pericentral hepatocytes, Km = 12 mM and Vmax = 87 mumoles hydrogen equivalents cm-3 min-1. The Km values are very similar to those determined previously from biochemical assays. The concentrations of the enzyme in single hepatocytes calculated from the Vmax values are in good agreement with those obtained by another method. These data substantiate the validity of our equations.

Estimating the initial reaction velocity of a soluble dehydrogenase in situ

The initial reaction velocities (vi) of lactate dehydrogenase in single hepatocytes were determined, by microdensitometry or computer-assisted image analysis, in sections of unfixed mouse liver incubated at 37 degrees C on substrate-containing agarose gel films. They were found to fit the equations vi = 2.82 degrees A and vi = vi + 2 degrees A, where vi and degrees A are, respectively, the gradients (or steady-state linear velocities) and the intercepts on the absorbance axis of the linear regression lines of the absorbance (A) on incubation time plots for incubation times between 1 and 3 min. Both equations were independent of section thickness between 4 and 14 microns. The observed and calculated values of vi agreed within 11.5% (n = 71). The validity of the equations for vi was confirmed by showing that the calculated vi was proportional to the thickness of the section and hence the amount of enzyme present. Thus, vi can be determined from measurements of either degrees A alone or vi and degrees A.