Search

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied at 25 degrees C and pH 6.2 as a function of the concentrations of ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate, Mg2+ and either NH4+ or K+. The data were analysed by the exponential model for four substrates, obtained by extension of the model described by Ainsworth, Kinderlerer & Gregory [(1983) Biochem. J. 209, 401-411]. On that basis, it was concluded that NH4+ binding is almost non-interactive but leads to the appearance of positive interaction in the velocity response to increase in its concentration because of positive interactions with phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+. The data obtained with K+ lead to the same conclusions and differ only in suggesting that NH4+ is bound more strongly to the enzyme than is K+. Both data sets are used as the basis for a discussion of the substrate interactions of pyruvate kinase and it appears therefrom that the heterotropic interactions accord with what is known of the events that take place at the active site during catalysis. The paper also reports a determination of the dissociation constants for the NH4+ complexes with ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate and an examination of the simultaneous activation of pyruvate kinase by K+ and NH4+ ions.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied at 25 degrees C as a function of the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ and the effector H+ in the pH range 5-6.6. The enzyme was activated by 100 mM-K+ and 32 mM-NH4+ throughout. It was found that the data could be described by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme. On that basis, it was concluded that the binding of H+ is positively interactive and that the protonated enzyme is catalytically inactive. It was also found that H+ interacts positively with phosphoenolpyruvate but negatively with both ADP and Mg2+.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in assays at pH 6.2 at 25 degrees C as a function of the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ and the concentration of the effector fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The enzyme was activated by 100 mM-K+ and 32 mM-NH4+ throughout. It was found that an increase in the fructose bisphosphate concentration from 24 microM to 1.2 mM brings about a transition from a sigmoidal to a non-inflected form in the relationships v = f([phosphoenolpyruvate]) and v = f([Mg2+]) together with a large increase in the affinity of these substrates for the enzyme. The binding behaviour of ADP is barely affected by the same change in effector concentration. By contrast, increase in fructose bisphosphate concentration below 24 microM increases the affinity of the enzyme for all its substrates and the sigmoidicity of the corresponding velocity-substrate-concentration relationships. As a result of this change in behaviour it has been found impossible to represent all the data by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme, and it is suggested (supported by comparisons with previous work) that the failure may reflect a secondary action of the effector upon the enzyme.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in assays at pH 6.2 where the relationships between the initial velocities of the catalysed reaction and the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ are non-hyperbolic. The findings were represented empirically by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme. The analysis shows that ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ display positive homotropic interaction in their binding behaviour with (calculated) Hill slopes at half-saturation equal to 1.06, 2.35 and 3.11 respectively [Ainsworth (1977) J. Theor. Biol. 68, 391-413]. The direct heterotropic interaction between ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate is small and negative, but the overall interaction between these substrates becomes positive when their positive interactions with Mg2+ are taken into account. The heterotropic interactions of the substrates, though smaller in magnitude, are comparable with those revealed by the rabbit muscle enzyme [Ainsworth, Kinderlerer & Gregory (1983) Biochem. J. 209, 401-411], and it is suggested that they have a common origin in charge interactions within the active site.

The potential for a considerable formation of ornithine exists in lactating mammary gland because of its arginase content. Late in lactation arginase reaches an activity in the gland higher than that present in any rat tissue except liver. Occurrence of the urea cycle can be excluded since two enzymes for the further reaction of ornithine in the cycle, carbamoyl phosphate synthetase I and ornithine carbamoyltransferase, are both absent from this tissue. Instead, carbamoyl phosphate synthetase II appears early in lactation, associated with accumulation of aspartate carbamoyltransferase and DNA, consistent with the proposed role of these enzymes in pyrimidine synthesis. The facts require another physiological role for arginase apart from its known function in the urea cycle. Significant activity of ornithine aminotransferase develops in mammary gland in close parallel with the arginase. By this reaction, ornithine can be converted into glutamic semialdehyde and subsequently into proline. The enzymic composition of the lactating mammary gland is therefore appropriate for the major conversion of arginine into proline that is known to occur in the intact gland.

1. The absolute electrophoretic mobilities of eight proteins have been measured at pH8.76, I 0.05, in polyacrylamide gels of 20 different compositions at 10°C. 2. The partition coefficients of these proteins have been determined chromatographically under the same conditions by using columns of granulated polyacrylamide gel prepared simultaneously. 3. The electrophoretic mobilities are an exponential function of the gel concentrations when the latter are corrected for water uptake. The constants of this function have been determined by curvefitting methods. They have been shown to be related to the free solution mobility and to the mean molecular radius respectively. 4. The reduced mobilities have been shown to be a linear function of the partition coefficients by statistical analyses. 5. The physical significance of the relation between electrophoretic mobility and chromatographic phase distribution in gel media is discussed in the context of these results.

1. The enzyme that catalyses the transfer of galactose from UDP-galactose to N-acetylgalactosaminyl-(1→4)-N-acetylneuraminyl-(2→3)-galactosyl-(1→4)-glucosylceramide (GM2) was found mainly in the heavy- and light-microsomal fractions of the adult frog brain. 2. The subcellular distribution of the enzyme, UDP-galactose–GM2 galactosyltransferase, parallels that of gangliosides in adult frog brain. 3. The enzymic activity was first detected at late gastrulation (Shumway stage 11½) and increased until the completion of the operculum (Shumway stage 25) and then decreased in the tadpoles. 4. In adult frog brain, the enzyme exhibited a pH optimum of 7.2–7.3 in both cacodylate and tris buffers. The enzyme required 10mm-Mn2+ for maximal activity and the Km for Mn2+ was determined as 2.2mm. The half-maximal velocity was obtained at a GM2 concentration of 0.18mm. Inhibition of the enzymic reaction was found when the GM2 concentration was greater than 1.38mm. 5. The enzymic activity was also inhibited by the products in the pathway of ganglioside synthesis, i.e. either by a mixture of gangliosides or by individual ganglioside components. The most active inhibitor was disialoganglioside. The degree of inhibition is a function of the individual ganglioside concentration. 6. A product-inhibition mechanism for the regulation of ganglioside biosynthesis is discussed.