Anomeric specificity of hexokinase and glucokinase activities in liver and insulin-producing cells

Challenges and perspectives in continuous glucose monitoring

Diabetes is a global epidemic that threatens the health and well-being of hundreds of millions of people. The first step in patient treatment is to monitor glucose levels. Currently this is most commonly done using enzymatic strips. This approach suffers from several limitations, namely it requires a blood sample and is therefore invasive, the quality and the stability of the enzymatic strips vary widely, and the patient is burdened by performing the measurement themselves. This results in dangerous fluctuations in glucose levels often going undetected. There is currently intense research towards new approaches in glucose detection that would enable non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). In this review, we explore the state-of-the-art in glucose detection technologies. In particular, we focus on the physical mechanisms behind different approaches, and how these influence and determine the accuracy and reliability of glucose detection. We begin by reviewing the basic physical and chemical properties of the glucose molecule. Although these play a central role in detection, especially the anomeric ratio, they are surprisingly often overlooked in the literature. We then review state-of-the art and emerging detection methods. Finally, we survey the current market for glucometers. Recent results show that past challenges in glucose detection are now being overcome, thereby enabling the development of smart wearable devices for non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring. These new directions in glucose detection have enormous potential to improve the quality of life of millions of diabetics, as well as offer insight into the development, treatment and even prevention of the disease.

Inhibitory effects of 3-bromopyruvate on human gastric cancer implant tumors in nude mice

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer is a common malignant tumor. Our previous study demonstrated inhibitory effects of 3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) on pleural mesothelioma. Moreover, we found that 3-BrPA could inhibit human gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 proliferation in vitro, but whether similar effects might be exerted in vivo have remained unclear.

AIM

To investigate the effect of 3-BrPA to human gastric cancer implant tumors in nude mice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Animals were randomly divided into 6 groups: 3-BrPA low, medium and high dose groups, PBS negative control group 1 (PH7.4), control group 2 (PH 6.8-7.8) and positive control group receiving 5-FU. The TUNEL method was used to detect apoptosis, and cell morphology and structural changes of tumor tissue were observed under transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

RESULTS

3-BrPA low, medium, high dose group, and 5-FU group, the tumor volume inhibition rates were 34.5%, 40.2%, 45.1%, 47.3%, tumor volume of experimental group compared with 2 PBS groups (p<0.05), with no significant difference between the high dose and 5-FU groups (p>0.05). TEM showed typical characteristics of apoptosis. TUNEL demonstrated apoptosis indices of 28.7%, 39.7%, 48.7% for the 3-BrPA low, medium, high dose groups, 42.2% for the 5-FU group and 5% and 4.3% for the PBS1 (PH7.4) and PBS2 (PH6.8-7.8) groups. Compared each experimental group with 2 negative control groups, there was significant difference (p<0.05); there was no significant difference between 5-FU group and medium dose group (p>0.05), but there was between the 5-FU and high dose groups (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicated that 3-BrPA in vivo has strong inhibitory effects on human gastric cancer implant tumors in nude mice .

Enzyme-to-enzyme channelling in the early steps of glycolysis in rat pancreatic islets

The metabolism of D-glucose displays anomeric specificity in rat pancreatic islets. The aim of the present report is to investigate whether such a situation implies enzyme-to-enzyme tunnelling of metabolites in the early steps of glycolysis. For such a purpose, the modelling of alpha- and beta-D-glucose catabolism, itself based on available information concerning both the utilisation of these two anomers and the intrinsic properties of phosphoglucoisomerase, was first examined. According to a theoretical model with enzyme-to-enzyme channelling, the generation of 3HOH from D-[2-3H]glucose should be higher in islets exposed to beta-D-glucose rather than alpha-D-glucose, whilst the opposite situation should prevail in the case of D-[5-3H]glucose conversion to 3HOH. Experimental data collected in rat islets incubated for 60 min at 4 degrees C in the presence of either alpha- or beta-D-glucose mixed with tracer amounts of either alpha- or beta-D-[2- 3H]glucose and alpha- or beta-D-[5-3H]glucose indicate that the beta/alpha ratio for D-[2-3H]glucose conversion to 3HOH is indeed higher than the beta/alpha ratio for D-[5-3H]glucose conversion to 3HOH. These findings are consistent with the postulated enzyme-to-enzyme tunnelling of glycolytic intermediates between hexokinase isoenzyme(s), phosphoglucoisomerase and, possibly, phosphofructokinase.

Anomeric specificity of human liver and B-cell glucokinase: modulation by the glucokinase regulatory protein

The anomeric specificity of the wild-type recombinant forms of human liver and B-cell glucokinase was investigated using radioactive anomers of d-glucose as tracers. With d-glucose at anomeric equilibrium and at 30 degrees C, the maximal velocity, Hill number, and K(s) amounted, respectively, to 16 micromol min(-1) mg(-1), 1.8 and 6.9 mM in the case of liver glucokinase, and 7.3 micromol min(-1) mg(-1), 2.0 and 7.1 mM in the case of B-cell glucokinase. Whether at 20-22 or 30 degrees C, the maximal velocity, Hill number, and K(m) were significantly lower with alpha-d-glucose than with beta-d-glucose in both liver and B-cell glucokinase. As a result of these differences, the reaction velocity was higher with alpha-d-glucose at low hexose concentrations, while the opposite situation prevailed at high hexose concentrations. In the presence of 0.2 mM d-fructose 6-phosphate, the glucokinase regulatory protein caused a concentration-related inhibition of d-glucose phosphorylation, such an effect fading out at high concentrations of either d-glucose or glucokinase relative to that of its regulatory protein. The phosphorylation of alpha-d-glucose by liver glucokinase appeared more resistant than that of beta-d-glucose to the inhibitory action of d-fructose 6-phosphate, as mediated by the glucokinase regulatory protein. Such a phenomenon failed to achieve statistical significance in the case of the B-cell glucokinase. It is proposed that this information, especially the novel findings concerning the anomeric difference in both Hill number and sensitivity to the glucokinase regulatory protein, should be taken into account when considering the respective contributions of alpha- and beta-d-glucose to the overall phosphorylation of equilibrated d-glucose by glucokinase.

Modulation of human glucokinase intrinsic activity by SH reagents mirrors post-translational regulation of enzyme activity

The low-affinity glucose phosphorylating enzyme glucokinase plays a key role in the process of glucose recognition in pancreatic B-cells. To evaluate mechanisms of intrinsic regulation of enzyme activity human pancreatic B-cell and liver glucokinase and for comparison rat liver glucokinase were expressed in E. coli bacteria. A one-step purification procedure through metal chelate affinity chromatography revealed 58 kDa proteins with high specific activities in the range of 50 U/mg protein and K(m) values around 8 mM for the substrate D-glucose with a preference for the alpha-anomer. There were no tissue specific differences, no species differences in the electrophoretic mobility, and no differences of the kinetic properties of these well conserved enzymes. The deletion of the 15 tissue-specific NH2-terminal amino acids of the human glucokinase resulted in a catalytically active enzyme whose kinetic properties were not significantly different from those of the wild-type enzymes. The human and rat glucokinase isoforms were non-competitively inhibited by the sulfhydryl group reagents alloxan and ninhydrin with Ki values in the range of 1 microM. The inhibition of glucokinase enzyme activity was reversed by dithiothreitol with an EC50 value of 9 microM for alloxan and of 50 microM for ninhydrin. D-Glucose provided protection against alloxan-induced inhibition of human and rat glucokinase isoenzymes with half-maximal effective concentrations between 11 and 16 mM. The enzyme inhibition by alloxan was accompanied by a change in the electrophoretic mobility with a second lower molecular 49 kDa glucokinase band which can be interpreted as a compact glucokinase molecule locked by disulfide bonds. Quantification of free sulfhydryl groups revealed an average number of 3.6 free sulfhydryl groups per enzyme molecule for the native human glucokinase isoforms. Alloxan decreased the average number of free sulfhydryl groups to 1.9 per enzyme molecule indicating that more than one SH side group is oxidized by this compound. The extraordinary sensitivity of the SH side groups of the glucokinase may be a possible mechanism of enzyme regulation by interconversion of stable (active) and unstable (inactive) conformations of the enzyme. In pancreatic B-cells the glucose-dependent increase of reduced pyridine nucleotides may stabilize the enzyme in the 58 kDa form and provide optimal conditions for glucose recognition and glucose-induced insulin secretion.

Phosphorylation by liver glucokinase of D-glucose anomers at anomeric equilibrium

The relative contribution of each anomer of D-glucose to the overall phosphorylation rate of the hexose tested at anomeric equilibrium was examined in rat liver postmicrosomal supernatants under conditions aimed at characterizing the activity of glucokinase, with negligible interference of either hexokinase, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine kinase or glucose-6-phosphatase (acting as a phosphotransferase). Both at 10 degrees and 30 degrees C, the relative contribution of each anomer was unaffected by the concentration of D-glucose. At both temperatures, the alpha/beta ratio for the contribution of each anomer was slightly, but significantly, lower than the alpha/beta ratio of anomer concentrations. These findings, which are consistent with the anomeric specificity of glucokinase in terms of affinity, cooperativity and maximal velocity, reveal that the preferred alpha-anomeric substrate for both glycogen synthesis and glycolysis is generated by glucokinase at a lower rate than is beta-D-glucose-6-phosphate.

Hexose metabolism in pancreatic islet cells: the coupling between hexose phosphorylation and mitochondrial respiration

The possible relevance of D-glucose phosphorylation by mitochondria-bound hexokinase to the control of respiration was examined in mitochondria prepared from either tumoral pancreatic islet cells (RINm5F line) or normal rat liver. In both systems, ATP generated by mitochondria exposed to ADP and succinate could serve as a substrate for the phosphorylation of D-glucose. However, after exposure to exogenous ADP in the presence of succinate, only mitochondria isolated from RINm5F cells displayed a sizeable increase in O2 consumption in response to a subsequent administration of D-glucose. In this respect, the discrepancy between mitochondria from islet cells and liver, respectively, was found to be attributable to the much lower hexokinase activity, relative to respiratory rate, in liver than in RINm5F cell mitochondria. It is speculated that the coupling between hexose phosphorylation and respiration in islet cells may prime the mitochondria to generate ATP during the early metabolic and secretory response to a rise in extracellular D-glucose concentration.

Anomeric specificity and kinetics of glucokinase: theoretical unsuitability of the Hill equation

The kinetics of the low-Km hexokinase isoenzymes, which obey the Michaelis-Menten equation, can be established from the Km (Michaelis constant) and Vmax (maximal velocity) values for either equilibrated D-glucose or its alpha- and beta-anomers. In the case of the high-Km glucokinase isoenzyme, however, the sigmoidal substrate dependency and the competition between the two anomers of D-glucose do not allow, theoretically, to assign any meaningful value to either the Km, Vmax or n (Hill number) constants for equilibrated D-glucose. Thus, with equilibrated D-glucose, the concentration dependency fails to display a rectilinear relationship in the Hill plot. These observations illustrate the shortcomings of current biochemical studies in which the anomeric heterogeneity of D-glucose is ignored.

Anomeric specificity of D-glucose phosphorylation by rat liver glucose-6-phosphatase

The anomeric specificity of D-glucose phosphorylation by hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase was examined in rat liver microsomes incubated in the presence of carbamoyl phosphate. At 10 degrees C, the Km for the equilibrated hexose and phosphate donor was close to 56 mM and 11 mM, respectively. The enzymic activity, which was increased in diabetic rats, was about 40% lower in untreated than in sonicated microsomes. No anomeric difference in affinity was found in sonicated microsomes. In untreated microsomes, however, the Km for beta-D-glucose was slightly lower than that for alpha-D-glucose. The maximal velocity was higher with beta- than alpha-D-glucose in both untreated and sonicated microsomes. These data indicate that the phosphotransferase activity of glucose-6-phosphatase cannot account for the higher rate of glycolysis and glycogen synthesis found in hepatocytes exposed to alpha- rather than beta-D-glucose.

Hexose metabolism in pancreatic islets: regulation of mitochondrial hexokinase binding

A major fraction of hexokinase was found to be bound, presumably to mitochondria, in both normal and tumoral rat pancreatic islet cells examined after either mechanical disruption or digitonin treatment. Spermidine enhanced the binding and glucose 6-phosphate caused the release of hexokinase to and from islet mitochondria, in a manner comparable to that seen in parotid or brain homogenates. In hepatocytes, some hexokinase, but no glucokinase, was found in the bound form. In islet cells, however, the pattern of glucokinase binding was similar to that of hexokinase. It is speculated that the preferential location of both hexokinase and glucokinase on mitochondria may favor the maintenance of a high cytosolic ATP content in islet cells.

Anomeric specificity of D-glucose metabolism in rat brain cells

Rat brain cells were incubated at 9 degrees C (and occasionally at 37 degrees C) in the presence of the anomers of D-[5-3H]glucose, D-[U-14C]glucose, D-[6-14C]glucose and D-[1-14C]glucose (1.0 mM). The utilization of beta-D-[5-3H]glucose was slightly higher than that of alpha-D-[5-3H]glucose, a situation possibly attributable to the anomeric behaviour of hexokinase. However, the production of 14CO2 from the alpha-anomer always largely exceeded that from the beta-anomer. The anomeric difference in D-[U-14C]glucose oxidation, relative to D-[5-3H]glucose utilization, was suppressed in the presence of NH4Cl. Even at anomeric equilibrium, the relative contribution of alpha-D-glucose to 14CO2 output exceeded its relative abundance. The beta/alpha ratio for D-[1-14C]glucose oxidation (or D-[U-14C]glucose oxidation) was higher than that for D-[6-14C]glucose oxidation. Comparable observations were made in brain cells from albino rats and either lean or obese Zucker rats. It is concluded that D-glucose metabolism displays anomeric specificity in rat brain cells, even when the latter are exposed to equilibrated D-glucose. It is also speculated that anomeric differences in the phosphorylation of D-glucose by bound hexokinase may directly influence mitochondrial oxidative events.

Anomer specificity of glucose-6-phosphatase and glucokinase

The anomeric form of glucose produced by glucose-6-phosphatase was studied using an apparatus that specifically measures beta-D-glucose. The time course of beta-D-glucose formation from glucose-6-P by glucose-6-phosphatase is essentially linear. In the presence of mutarotase, this rate is reduced to 70% of that obtained in the absence of mutarotase. When detergent treated microsomes were used, the rate of beta-D-glucose formation is unaffected by mutarotase. These results suggest that only beta-anomer of glucose is produced by microsomal glucose-6-phosphatase and this specificity is determined by translocase for glucose-6-P or glucose. It was also demonstrated that alpha-D-glucose is the substrate for glucokinase.

Environmental modulation of the anomeric specificity of glucose metabolism in normal and tumoral cells

In rat pancreatic islets and erythrocytes, alpha-D-glucose (2.8-5.6 mM) is better metabolized than beta-D-glucose, as judged from the conversion of D-[5-3H]glucose to 3H2O, augmentation in lactic acid production (or output) or oxidation of D-[U-14C]glucose. In tumoral cells, however, whether of the insulin-producing or lymphocytic leukemia type, the anomeric preference for alpha-D-glucose utilization is no longer present when the cells are incubated at comparable glucose concentrations (2.8-4.0 mM). Nevertheless, the tumoral insulin-producing cells are able to display preference for either alpha-D-glucose (at very low glucose concentrations in the 0.14-0.82 mM range) or beta-D-glucose (in the presence of 16.7 mM glucose). These findings indicate that the anomeric specificity of glucose metabolism may differ in distinct cell types, and can be modulated by the ambient glucose concentration. ambient glucose concentration.

Glucokinase is not the pancreatic B-cell glucoreceptor

A series of recent experimental findings are reviewed to indicate that glucokinase does not represent the pancreatic B-cell glucoreceptor. Whether in liver, pancreatic islet or insulin-producing tumoral cell homogenates, glucokinase fails to yield a higher reaction velocity with alpha-than beta-D-glucose. At a high glucose concentration (40 mmol/l), when the phosphorylation of glucose by glucokinase is indeed higher with beta- than alpha-D-glucose, no preference for beta-D-glucose is observed in intact islets, as judged from the utilization of D-[5-3H]glucose, production of lactic acid, oxidation of D-[U-14C]glucose, net uptake of 45Ca or release of insulin. The glucose 6-phosphate content of intact islets is higher in the presence of beta- than alpha-D-glucose. At a low glucose concentration (3.3 mmol/l), when the participation of glucokinase to hexose phosphorylation is minimal, alpha-D-glucose is still better metabolized and stimulates both 45Ca net uptake and insulin release more efficiently than beta-D-glucose, despite the fact that hexokinase yields a higher reaction velocity with beta- than alpha-D-glucose. In intact islets, beta-D-glucose is used preferentially to alpha-D-glucose in the pentose cycle pathway as judged from the oxidation of alpha- or beta-D-[1-14C]glucose relative to that of alpha- or beta-D-[6-14C]glucose. In islets removed from fasted rats, the rate of glycolysis is more severely decreased than expected from the repression of glucokinase. The metabolism of glucose in tumoral insulin-producing cells differs, in several respects, from that in normal pancreatic islets, although the pattern of hexokinase and glucokinase activities is similar in these two types of cells. All these observations point to the participation of regulatory sites distal to glucose phosphorylation in the control of glucose metabolism in islet cells.