Renal glycerol metabolism and the distribution of glycerol kinase in rabbit nephron

Pathogenesis of diabesity-induced kidney disease: role of kidney nutrient sensing

Diabetes kidney disease (DKD) is a major healthcare problem associated with increased risk for developing end-stage kidney disease and high mortality. It is widely accepted that DKD is primarily a glomerular disease. Recent findings however suggest that kidney proximal tubule cells (KPTCs) may play a central role in the pathophysiology of DKD. In diabetes and obesity, KPTCs are exposed to nutrient overload, including glucose, free-fatty acids and amino acids, which dysregulate nutrient and energy sensing by mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 and AMP-activated protein kinase, with subsequent induction of tubular injury, inflammation, and fibrosis. Pharmacological treatments that modulate nutrient sensing and signaling in KPTCs, including cannabinoid-1 receptor antagonists and sodium glucose transporter 2 inhibitors, exert robust kidney protective effects. Shedding light on how nutrients are sensed and metabolized in KPTCs and in other kidney domains, and on their effects on signal transduction pathways that mediate kidney injury, is important for understanding the pathophysiology of DKD and for the development of novel therapeutic approaches in DKD and probably also in other forms of kidney disease.

Rrm2b deletion causes mitochondrial metabolic defects in renal tubules

Renal diseases impose considerable health and economic burdens on health systems worldwide, and there is a lack of efficient methods for the prevention and treatment due to their complexity and heterogeneity. Kidneys are organs with a high demand for energy produced by mitochondria, in which Rrm2b has critical functions as reported. The Rrm2b kidney-specific knockout mice we generated exhibited age-dependent exacerbated features, including mitochondrial dysfunction and increased oxidative stress; additionally, resulted in severe disruption of mitochondria-related metabolism. Rrm2b is vital not only to supply dNTPs for DNA replication and repair, but also to maintain structural integrity and metabolic homeostasis in mitochondria. Thence, Rrm2b deletion might induce chronic kidney defects in mice. This model can facilitate exploration of novel mechanisms and targeted therapies in the kidney diseases and has important translational and clinical implications.

Function of aquaporin-7 in the kidney and the male reproductive system

The aquaporin-7 (AQP7) water channel is known to be a member of the aquaglyceroporins, which allow the rapid transport of glycerol and water. In this chapter, we review the physiological functions of AQP7 in the kidney and the male reproductive system.In the kidney, AQP7 is abundantly present at the apical membrane of the proximal straight tubules. Although the contribution of AQP7 to the water permeability of proximal straight tubules was found to be minimal compared with that of AQP1, we identified a novel glycerol reabsorption pathway that may be important for preventing glycerol from being excreted into urine.In the male reproductive system, AQP7 is present particularly in the spermatids, as well as in the testicular and epididymal spermatozoa, suggesting that AQP7 has some role in late spermatogenesis. However, male AQP7 knockout mice were not sterile, and their sperm did not show any morphological or functional abnormalities.

Fatty acids and glycerol or lactate are required to induce gluconeogenesis from alanine in isolated rabbit renal cortical tubules

In isolated rabbit renal cortical tubules, glucose synthesis from 1 mM alanine is negligible, while the amino acid is metabolized to glutamine and glutamate. The addition of 0.5 mM octanoate plus 2 mM glycerol induces incorporation of [U-14C]alanine into glucose and decreases glutamine synthesis, whereas oleate and palmitate in the presence of glycerol are less potent than octanoate. Gluconeogenesis is also significantly accelerated when glycerol is substituted by lactate. In view of an increase in 14CO2 fixation and elevation of both cytosolic and mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratios, the activation of glucose formation from alanine upon the addition of glycerol and octanoate is likely due to (i) stimulation of pyruvate carboxylation, (ii) increased availability of NADH for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and (iii) elevation of mitochondrial redox state causing a diminished provision of ammonium for glutamine synthesis. The induction of gluconeogenesis in the presence of alanine, glycerol and octanoate is not related to cell volume changes. The results presented in this paper show the importance of free fatty acids and glycerol for regulation of renal gluconeogenesis from alanine. The possible physiological significance of the data is discussed.

Compartmental study of rat renal phospholipid metabolism

Phospholipid content and metabolism were studied in rat renal papillary, medullary and cortical slices. The highest concentration of phospholipids was found in cortex and the lowest in papilla samples (ratio cortex/medulla, 1.3; cortex/papilla, 3.7). The profile of the various phospholipids was different depending on the zone. The most important difference was the relative concentrations of sphingomyelin (CerPCho) and phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) with ratios for PtdIns/CerPCho of 5.0, 3.3 and 2.5 in papilla, medulla, and cortex, respectively. In the three zones, PtdIns showed the highest specific activity for [2-14C]glycerol and [1-14C]arachidonic acid incorporation. By contrast, a higher amount of [1-14C]palmitic acid was incorporated into phosphatidylcholine than into any other phospholipid. The various radioactive precursors were only poorly incorporated into phosphatidylethanolamine. No radioactivity was associated with phosphatidylserine. The papilla possesses the most active phospholipid metabolism of all the pathways studied.

Studies of the regulation of renal gluconeogenesis in normal and Pi depleted proximal tubule cells

Pi depletion of proximal tubule cells isolated from mouse kidney results in a decrease in the cell content of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate and an increase in the rate of gluconeogenesis from pyruvate, malate and succinate. Gluconeogenesis from glycerol is unaffected by Pi depletion. Introduction of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate into the cytosol of ATP-permeabilized cells is accompanied by a fall in gluconeogenesis. The presence of external Ca2+ stimulates gluconeogenesis. When cytosolic Ca2+ is raised to 1.8 microM by permeabilization, the resealed cells still require 2.5 mM Ca2+ in the bathing medium in order to perform gluconeogenesis at the maximum rate. Cells permeabilized in the presence of cAMP show a decreased rate of glucose production. Phorbol ester stimulates gluconeogenesis provided that the phorbol treatment is performed in the absence of Ca2+ ions. It is suggested that Pi depletion may stimulate pyruvate carboxylase activity and facilitate the entry of certain gluconeogenic substrates into mitochondria. It is also proposed that important aspects of the control of renal gluconeogenesis by parathyroid hormone are mediated by protein kinase C.

Utilization of alanine for glucose formation in isolated rabbit kidney-cortex tubules

In kidney cortex tubules isolated from fed rabbits L-alanine is not utilized as glucose precursor, when added as a sole substrate. However, this amino acid decreases gluconeogenesis from low (up to 1 mM) 2-oxoglutarate concentrations and stimulates this process at higher (2.5-10 mM) ketoacid contents in the suspension medium. Aminooxyacetate, an inhibitor of aminotransferases, abolishes both inhibitory and stimulatory effects of L-alanine on glucose formation. The addition of 2-oxoglutarate increases the incorporation of L-[U-14C]alanine to glucose from 8- to 123-fold, depending upon the ketoacid and alanine concentrations used. In contrast, nonlabelled L-alanine decreases the incorporation of low [U-14C)2-oxoglutarate concentrations into glucose, while it does not affect contribution of 5 mM ketoacid to gluconeogenesis. The data indicate that (i) in the presence of 2-oxoglutarate L-alanine is utilized as glucose precursor in rabbit renal tubules and (ii) this amino acid may decrease the contribution of low extracellular concentrations of the ketoacid to gluconeogenesis.

Effect of glycerol on gluconeogenesis in isolated rabbit kidney cortex tubules

In renal tubules isolated from fed rabbits glycerol is not utilized as a glucose precursor, probably due to the rate-limiting transfer of reducing equivalents from cytosol to mitochondria. Pyruvate and glutamate stimulated an incorporation of [14C]glycerol to glucose by 50- and 10-fold, respectively, indicating that glycerol is utilized as a gluconeogenic substrate under these conditions. Glycerol at concentration of 1.5 mM resulted in an acceleration of both glucose formation and incorporation of [14C]pyruvate and [14C]glutamate into glucose by 2- and 9-fold, respectively, while it decreased the rates of these processes from lactate as a substrate. In the presence of fructose, glycerol decreased the ATP level, limiting the rate of fructose phosphorylation and glucose synthesis. As concluded from the 'cross-over' plots, the ratios of both 3-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate and glycerol 3-phosphate/dihydroxyacetone phosphate, as well as from experiments performed with methylene blue and acetoacetate, the stimulatory effect of glycerol on glucose formation from pyruvate and glutamate may result from an acceleration of fluxes through the first steps of gluconeogenesis as well as glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. As inhibition by glycerol of gluconeogenesis from lactate is probably due to a marked elevation of the cytosolic NADH/NAD+ ratio resulting in a decline of flux through lactate dehydrogenase.

13C-NMR study of glycerol metabolism in rabbit renal cells of proximal convoluted tubules

Perchloric acid extracts of rabbit renal proximal convoluted tubular cells (PCT) incubated with [2-13C]glycerol and [1,3-13C]glycerol were investigated by 13C-NMR spectroscopy. These 13C-NMR spectra enabled us to determine cell metabolic pathways of glycerol in PCT cells. The main percentage of 13C-label, arising from 13C-enriched glycerol, was found in glucose, lactate, glutamine and glutamate. So far it can be concluded that glycerol is a suitable substrate for PCT cells and is involved in gluconeogenesis and glycolysis as well in the Krebs cycle intermediates. Label exchange and label enrichment in 13C-labelled glucose, arising from [2-13C]glycerol and [1,3-13C]glycerol, is explained by label scrambling through the pentose shunt and a label exchange in the triose phosphate pool. From relative enrichments it is estimated that the ratio of the pyruvate kinase flux to the gluconeogenetic flux is 0.97:1 and that the ratio of pyruvate carboxylase activity relative to pyruvate dehydrogenase activity is 2.0:1. Our results show that 13C-NMR spectroscopy, using 13C-labelled substrates, is a powerful tool for the examination of renal metabolism.

Renal enzyme activities in experimental ochratoxin A-induced porcine nephropathy: diagnostic potential of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity

Enzyme activities have been measured in needle biopsies from kidneys of pigs fed 1 ppm or 0.2 ppm of ochratoxin A for 1-5 wks. After feeding 1 ppm toxin for 1 wk, the activity of cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) was decreased by 40% and remained inhibited until the termination of the experiment (5 wk). The activity of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, a brush-border enzyme found in the proximal tubules, was reduced to a similar degree and remained inhibited. The activities of hexokinase, a cytosolic enzyme of general distribution in the nephron, and phosphate-dependent glutaminase, a distal tubule enzyme, were not affected. The biopsy results were confirmed by measurements in renal slices taken at the termination of the experiment, except that biopsy samples showed more variation in enzyme activity and a lower PEPCK activity. A guinea pig antibody against the cytosolic form of PEPCK was used to demonstrate that the mitochondrial form of the enzyme, which accounts for a considerable part of the total cellular activity, was not affected by ochratoxin A. When mitochondrial PEPCK activity present in the cytosolic fraction was accounted for, ochratoxin A was found to reduce PEPCK activity by 70-80%. The increase of ochratoxin A exposure from zero through 0.2 ppm to 1 ppm, which resulted in dose-dependent activity decrease of PEPCK and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, was accompanied by dose-dependent decrease of renal function, as measured by a reduction of maximal tubular excretion of para-aminohippurate per clearance of inulin (TmPAH/CIn) and an increase in glucose excretion. This suggest that these enzymes are sensitive indicators of ochratoxin A-induced porcine nephropathy. Assuming that porcine nephropathy represents a valid model of endemic (Balkan) nephropathy in humans, the measurement of cytosolic PEPCK and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity in the kidney could be a sensitive test for ochratoxin A-induced disease in humans.

Isolation, growth, and characterization of a gluconeogenic strain of renal cells

LLC-PK1 cells, derived from pig kidney, retain several properties of the proximal tubule, but are incapable of gluconeogenesis, due to the lack of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) [Am. J. Physiol. 248 (Cell Physiol. 17): C181-185, 1985]. Cells incapable of gluconeogenesis require a hexose, pentose, or nucleoside to provide ribose-5-phosphate for RNA biosynthesis. To induce or select cells that express FBPase activity, we cultured LLC-PK1 cells in glucose-free medium. We obtained cells (designated LLC-PK1-FBPase+) that express FBPase activity and are capable of growing in the complete absence of sugars or nucleosides. The cells have apical membrane enzyme activities that differ from those of wildtype cells. Tests of metabolic flow through the gluconeogenic pathway, using 3-mercaptopicolinic acid, a specific inhibitor of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, confirmed that the cells are gluconeogenic. LLC-PK1-FBPase+ cells grown in medium containing 5 mM glucose for five weekly passages continued to express FBPase activity and apical membrane enzyme activities characteristic of the FBPase+ strain. When switched back to glucose-free medium, they proliferated well. The strain appears to be stable. It should provide a model for studying the relationship between gluconeogenesis and other proximal tubule functions. An incidental finding is that in both strains, the activity of lactate dehydrogenase varied directly with the concentration of glucose in the growth medium, indicating that the expression of lactate dehydrogenase may be regulated by glucose or a metabolite of glucose.

The interaction between gluconeogenic metabolism and accumulation of phosphate by chick kidney tubule cells

Pyruvate promotes both phosphate uptake and glucose synthesis by isolated chick kidney proximal tubule cells. 3-Mercaptopicolinate inhibits both glucose synthesis and the promoted phosphate accumulation to the same extent. Glycerol also stimulates glucose synthesis, but does not affect phosphate accumulation. Oxygen utilization by the tissue is slightly stimulated by glycerol and pyruvate, but the enhancement of uptake by pyruvate is unlikely to result from raised cellular oxidative phosphorylation. The action of pyruvate is not a direct effect on the phosphate transporter, or on the transport of phosphate across the basolateral membrane, but entails an obligatory flux to triose phosphate.

Phospholipid metabolism in rat kidney cortical tubules. I. Effect of renal substrates

Renal phospholipid metabolism was studied in rat cortical tubule suspensions by combining net measurements with precursor incorporation studies in order to be able to calculate the turnover of the different phospholipid species. Net amounts of tubular phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylinositol (PI) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) were 96.7 +/- 3.9, 29.2 +/- 2.9 and 74.1 +/- 6.0, mumol per g protein, respectively. Incubation of tubules in the absence or presence of renal substrates did not change net phospholipid contents. The predominant fatty acids were palmitate (47%) in PC and stearate in PI (56%) and PE (41%). Highest [14C]palmitate and [14C]glycerol incorporation rates were found in PC. In contrast, 32P-labeling was highest in phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate exceeding PI-labeling by a factor of 2.4 and 5.2, respectively. In contrast, [3H]inositol incorporation into phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate was only 20% compared to that into PI. Addition of renal substrates like lactate, glutamine, glycerol and fatty acids increased precursor incorporation. The stimulating effects of gluconeogenic precursors and fatty acids were more than additive. Comparison of rates of [14C]glycerol, [32P]- and [3H]inositol incorporation suggests that de novo phospholipid biosynthesis is represented by these measurements, while the fatty acid fraction in addition turns over by exchange processes. According to our conclusions PE, PC, PI and phosphoinositides turn over with a half-life of 139, 16, 15 and 0.7 h, respectively, under optimal in vitro conditions.

Choline kinase activity along the rabbit nephron

Choline kinase catalyzes the phosphorylation of choline to phosphorylcholine which is thus made available for phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis. Choline kinase activity was determined in defined microdissected structures of rabbit nephron with a radiochemical microprocedure. Enzyme activity was present in all segments tested. When referred to tubular length, the highest activities were found in proximal convoluted tubules. Due to the lower protein content of distal structures these segments exhibited higher enzyme activities when referred to micrograms of protein. From this distribution pattern it was concluded that all nephron segments are able to use extracellular choline for phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis.