Molecular weights of subunits of acetyl CoA carboxylase in rat liver cytoplasm

Structure and regulation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase genes of metazoa

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) plays a fundamental role in fatty acid metabolism. The reaction product, malonyl-CoA, is both an intermediate in the de novo synthesis of long-chain fatty acids and also a substrate for distinct fatty acyl-CoA elongation enzymes. In metazoans, which have evolved energy storage tissues to fuel locomotion and to survive periods of starvation, energy charge sensing at the level of the individual cell plays a role in fuel selection and metabolic orchestration between tissues. In mammals, and probably other metazoans, ACC forms a component of an energy sensor with malonyl-CoA, acting as a signal to reciprocally control the mitochondrial transport step of long-chain fatty acid oxidation through the inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I). To reflect this pivotal role in cell function, ACC is subject to complex regulation. Higher metazoan evolution is associated with the duplication of an ancestral ACC gene, and with organismal complexity, there is an increasing diversity of transcripts from the ACC paraloges with the potential for the existence of several isozymes. This review focuses on the structure of ACC genes and the putative individual roles of their gene products in fatty acid metabolism, taking an evolutionary viewpoint provided by data in genome databases.

Flexibility of zonation of fatty acid oxidation in rat liver

Periportal and perivenous hepatocytes were isolated from rats subjected to different treatments that induce (starvation, cold exposure) or depress (refeeding after starvation) hepatic fatty acid oxidation. These experiments were designed to determine factors that may be involved in creating and maintaining the asymmetrical distribution of this metabolic pathway in the acinus of the liver. The uneven distribution of mitochondrial [14C]-palmitate oxidation within the acinus (i) was very flexible and changed markedly with the physiological status of the animal (periportal/perivenous ratio: 1.5, 2.0, 1.0 and 0.4 for fed, starved, refed and cold-exposed animals respectively), (ii) coincided with a similar zonation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I activity in fed as well as in cold-exposed animals, (iii) was paralleled by a comparable zonation of mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA synthase activity in starved animals, and (iv) was not determined by zonal differences in any of the following parameters: sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I to malonyl-CoA, intracellular concentration of malonyl-CoA, fatty acid synthesizing capacity, acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity, fatty acid synthase activity or relative content of the two hepatic acetyl-CoA carboxylase isoforms. Unlike mitochondrial oxidation, peroxisomal [14C]palmitate oxidation was always zonated towards the perivenous zone of the liver irrespective of the physiological status of the animal. The data presented show that changes in the acinar distribution of mitochondrial long-chain fatty acid oxidation involve specific long-term mechanisms under different physiological conditions.

Immunological analysis of acetyl-CoA carboxylase mass, tissue distribution and subunit composition

Changes in the mass and subunit structure of liver acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) accompany altered nutrition in vivo. Enzyme activity in different tissues and cell lines is also, in part, determined by variations in both total mass and ACC isoenzyme composition. ACC isoenzyme mass and hetero/homo-isoenzyme association were quantified by three sandwich e.l.i.s.a. assays, i.e. an avidin-based assay that measured total isoenzyme mass and two antibody-sandwich assays which measure polypeptide association. Results from the avidin-based assay reveal that the two major isoenzymes, of molecular mass 265 kDa (ACC 265) and 280 kDa (ACC 280), are present in markedly variable concentration in several rat and mouse tissues and in cell lines of rat and mouse origin. Hepatic ACC mass has been reported to be distributed between mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions and to undergo only a change in subcellular distribution without alteration in total mass on induction/repression of activity in vivo [Roman-Lopez, Shriver, Joseph & Alfred (1989) Biochem. J. 260, 927-930]. However, in the present study, immunoblotting and e.l.i.s.a. analysis reveals that, in rat liver, the mass of both isoenzymes is predominantly cytosolic in distribution, is markedly diminished on fasting and rises 6-8-fold on refeeding of a high-carbohydrate diet. These data support the results of several other investigations of hepatic ACC mass, and are consistent with known nutritionally altered changes in ACC mRNA content. By the two antibody-sandwich e.l.i.s.a. assays, isoenzyme complexes either composed of both ACC 280 and 265 or with multiple copies of ACC 265 are detectable in rat liver enzyme; their concentration varies independently of total ACC mass with the nutritional state of the rat, being lowest in fasting and highest on fasting/refeeding. E.l.i.s.a. analysis, applicable to crude tissue/cell extracts, provides a simple, sensitive and quantitative measurement of ACC mass and subunit composition. Its use may permit needed quantitative insight into the role of variable total ACC and isoenzyme mass and of alterations in ACC subunit composition that occur in vivo or in isolated cells in response to a variety of hormonal and nutritional influences.

Isolation and identification of acetyl-CoA carboxylase from rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) liver

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase is the pivotal enzyme in the de novo synthesis of fatty acids and is the only carboxylase with a biotin-containing subunit greater than 200,000 daltons. The biotin moiety is covalently linked to the active site and has a high affinity (Kd = 10(-15) M) for the protein avidin. This relationship has been used in previous studies to identify acetyl-CoA carboxylase isolated from mammalian species. However, acetyl-CoA carboxylase has not been isolated and characterized in a poikilothermic species such as the rainbow trout. The present study describes the isolation and identification of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in the cytosol of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) liver. The enzyme was isolated using two distinct procedures--polyethylene glycol precipitation and avidin-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Identification of the isolated protein as acetyl-CoA carboxylase was made by the following: (1) sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; (2) avidin binding; (3) in vivo labeling with [14C]biotin; and (4) acetyl-CoA carboxylase-specific activity. The subunit molecular weight of the major protein was 230,000 daltons +/- 3.3%. This protein was shown to bind avidin (Mr = 16,600) prior to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, indicating the presence of biotin. In addition, protein isolated from fish that had previously received intraperitoneal injections of [14C]biotin, showed the majority of radioactivity associated with the 230,000 dalton protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bovine milk-fat-globule membrane contains an enzymically inactive form of acetyl-CoA carboxylase

Enzymically inactive acetyl-CoA carboxylase [acetyl-CoA:carbon-dioxide ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.4.1.2] was found as a component of bovine milk-fat-globule membrane (MFGM). Acetyl-CoA carboxylase was present in MFGM at a higher concentration than in cytosolic or mitochondrial fractions of bovine mammary tissue, which makes it unlikely that its presence was due to simple contamination by these subcellular constituents.

Enzymatically inactive forms of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in rat liver mitochondria

Biotinyl proteins were labelled by incubation of SDS-denatured preparations of subcellular fractions of rat liver with [14C]methylavidin before polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Fluorographic analysis showed that mitochondria contained two forms of acetyl-CoA carboxylase [acetyl-CoA:carbon dioxide ligase (ADP-forming) EC 6.4.1.2], both of which were precipitated by antibody to the enzyme. When both forms were considered, almost three-quarters of the total liver acetyl-CoA carboxylase was found in the mitochondrial fraction of liver from fed rats while only 3.5% was associated with the microsomal fraction. The remainder was present in cytosol, either as the intact active enzyme or as a degradation product. The actual specific activity of the cytosolic enzyme was approx. 2 units/mg of acetyl-CoA carboxylase protein while that of the mitochondrial enzyme was about 20-fold lower, indicating that mitochondrial acetyl-CoA carboxylase was relatively inactive. Fractionation of mitochondria with digitonin showed that acetyl-CoA carboxylase was associated with the outer mitochondrial membrane. The available evidence suggests that mitochondrial acetyl-CoA carboxylase represents a reservoir of enzyme which can be released and activated under lipogenic conditions.

Use of streptavidin to detect biotin-containing proteins in plants

A procedure to detect biotinyl proteins after fractionation by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was developed. Proteins were immobilized on nitrocellulose and biotin-containing proteins were detected by probing with 125I-streptavidin. Using this procedure a small survey of biotinyl protein in plants was undertaken. In total four biotin-containing proteins were detected in higher plants of molecular weights 62,000, 50,000, 34,000, and 31,000. These biotinyl proteins were not ubiquitous in the plants surveyed. In the cyanobacterium Anabeana variabilis, a single biotin-containing protein of 21,000 Da was detected. In isolated spinach chloroplasts, the two biotinyl proteins detected were soluble. The results are discussed in relation to acetyl-CoA carboxylase.

Dietary dependent distribution of acetyl CoA carboxylase between cytoplasm and mitochondria of rat liver

Biotinyl proteins in cytoplasm and mitochondria of rat liver were examined by fluorography and the quantity of acetyl CoA carboxylase was determined after sodium dodecyl sulfate-denatured proteins were incubated with [14C] methyl avidin and separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results show that one-half of the total acetyl CoA carboxylase in liver of fed rats was associated with mitochondria in a relatively inactive form. Fasting shifted the distribution of the enzyme toward the mitochondrial fraction and refeeding previously fasted rats shifted the distribution towards cytoplasm. Thus, acetyl CoA carboxylase can be added to the list of ambiquitous enzymes whose subcellular distribution varies with physiological conditions.

Role of protein synthesis in the carbohydrate-induced changes in the activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase in cultured rat hepatocytes

Changes in the activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA) reductase were studied in primary cultures of adult-rat hepatocytes after exposure of the cells to insulin and/or carbohydrates. To determine the contribution of protein synthesis to changes in enzyme activity, the relative rate of synthesis of each enzyme was measured and the amount of translatable mRNA coding for the enzymes was determined by translation in vitro and immunoprecipitation. Addition of insulin to the culture medium increased the activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and HMG-CoA reductase by approx. 4- and 3-fold respectively. Although similar increases in the relative rate of synthesis of each protein and template activity were noted, initial increases in the activity of each enzyme occurred before any changes in protein synthesis were observed, suggesting the involvement of post-translational modification of enzyme activity in addition to changes in protein synthesis. The addition of fructose to the culture medium, in the absence of insulin, increased the activity of the carboxylase and the reductase approx. 3-fold, similar to the effects of insulin. However, the effect of fructose was to increase the rate of synthesis and the amount of translatable mRNA coding for acetyl-CoA carboxylase, whereas the increase in the activity of HMG-CoA reductase was not accompanied by any changes in the rate of synthesis or template activity. The effects of fructose could not be mimicked by glucose unless insulin was also present in the culture medium. Similar to observations in vitro, the injection of insulin or the feeding of a high-fructose diet to rats made diabetic by the injection of streptozotocin produced an increase in the activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and HMG-CoA reductase, and only the increase in the activity of the carboxylase was accompanied by an increase in the amount of translatable mRNA coding for the enzyme. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of fructose on the synthesis of enzymes involved in lipogenesis.