Intermediary carbohydrate metabolism in protoscoleces ofEchinococcus granulosus(horse and sheep strains) andE. multilocularis

Parasitology ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. McManus ◽  
J. D. Smyth

SUMMARYWith few exceptions, the specific activities of the glycolytic enzymes and the steady-state content of glycolytic and associated intermediates in protoscoleces of the horse (E.g.H) and sheep (E.g.S) strains ofEchinococcus granulosusand the closely relatedE. multilocularis(E.m.) are very similar. Phosphorylase, hexokinase, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase catalyse non-equilibrium reactions and the patterns of activity for pyruvate kinase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and malic enzyme are similar in the three organisms. The levels of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates inE.g.H., E.g.S. andE.m. are of the same order as those reported in tissues with an active cycle. Each has a complete sequence of cycle enzymes but there are substantial differences between the three parasites with regard to the activity of individual enzymes, The activities of NAD and NADP-linked isocitrate dehydrogenases are significantly lower inE.g.H. than inE.g.S. and particularly inE.m. which suggests that the tricarboxylic acid cycle may play a more important role in carbohydrate metabolism and energy production in the latter parasites. Nevertheless, the three organisms utilize fermentative pathways for alternative energy production, fix carbon dioxide via phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and have a partial reversed tricarboxylic acid cycle. It is speculated thatin vivomore carbon will be channelled towards oxaloacetate than pyruvate at the phosphoenolpyruvate branch point. The steady state content of ATP and the ATP/AMP ratios are low in the three organisms, suggesting a low rate of ATP utilization in each.

Parasitology ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. O. E. Onwuliri

The activities of glycolytic and related enzymes and the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes were measured in freshly isolated 1st- (Li), 2nd- (L2) and 3rd-stage (L3) larvae of both Ancylostoma tubaeforme and Haemonchus contortus. All enzymes of the glycolytic pathway were present in all developmental stages of both strongylid nematodes although higher levels of activities were obtained in the pre-infective 1st- and 2nd-stage larvae than in the infective 3rd stage. However, the pre-infective larvae contained lower levels of pyruvate kinase (PK) than the infective larvae. Consequently, the pyruvate kinase to phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) ratios were 0·23 and 0·26 for the L1s and L2s for A. tubaeforme and 0·36 and 0·21 for those of H. contortus respectively. High levels of activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase obtained in the bacteriophagous pre-infective larvae were consistent with high rates of morphogenesis and substrate synthesis characteristic of the pre-infective stages. All the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes were present in the infective larvae of both nematodes while in the pre-infective Li and L2 stages, the enzymes at the beginning of the cycle, namely aconitate hydratase and NAD-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase, were not detected. A scheme was proposed for the energy metabolism of these developing larvae. In this scheme, the pre-infective larvae were shown to operate an anaerobic metabolic pathway involving the carboxylation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) by phosphoenolpyru vate carboxykinase (PEPCK) to form oxaloacetate (OAA), whereas in the infective larvae the metabolic pathway favouring the direct dephosphorylation of PEP, as in vertebrate tissues, was followed.


Author(s):  
Sarah Aherfi ◽  
Djamal Brahim Belhaouari ◽  
Lucile Pinault ◽  
Jean-Pierre Baudoin ◽  
Philippe Decloquement ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTSince the discovery of Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus, the first giant virus of amoeba, the historical hallmarks defining a virus have been challenged. Giant virion sizes can reach up to 2.3 µm, making them visible by optical microscopy. They have large genomes of up to 2.5 Mb that encode proteins involved in the translation apparatus. Herein, we investigated possible energy production in Pandoravirus massiliensis, the largest of our giant virus collection. MitoTracker and TMRM mitochondrial membrane markers allowed for the detection of a membrane potential in virions that could be abolished by the use of the depolarizing agent CCCP. An attempt to identify enzymes involved in energy metabolism revealed that 8 predicted proteins of P. massiliensis exhibited low sequence identities with defined proteins involved in the universal tricarboxylic acid cycle (acetyl Co-A synthase; citrate synthase; aconitase; isocitrate dehydrogenase; α-ketoglutarate decarboxylase; succinate dehydrogenase; fumarase). All 8 viral predicted ORFs were transcribed together during viral replication, mainly at the end of the replication cycle. Two of these proteins were detected in mature viral particles by proteomics. The product of the ORF132, a predicted protein of P. massiliensis, cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, provided a functional isocitrate dehydrogenase, a key enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, which converts isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate. We observed that membrane potential was enhanced by low concentrations of Acetyl-CoA, a regulator of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Our findings show for the first time that energy production can occur in viruses, namely, pandoraviruses, and the involved enzymes are related to tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes. The presence of a proton gradient in P. massiliensis coupled with the observation of genes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle make this virus a form a life for which it is legitimate to question ‘what is a virus?’.


1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1131-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lansing M. Prescott ◽  
Harold E. Hoyme ◽  
Darlene Crockett ◽  
Elena Hui

The specific activities of a number of the key enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism in Acanthamoeba castellanii (Neff clone I–12) have been determined. The following Embden–Meyerhof and pentose phosphate pathway enzymes were present: glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, hexose diphosphatase, aldolase, glyceraldehydephosphate dehydrogenase, pyruvate kinase, and pyruvate-phosphate dikinase. The following tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes were also found: citrate synthase, aconitase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, fumarate hydratase, and malate dehydrogenase. The degradation of glucose-U-14C to 14CO2 was examined. Aerobic 14CO2 production from glucose-U-14C was 3.4-fold greater than anaerobic production. The data provide further evidence that the Embden–Meyerhof, pentose phosphate, and tricarboxylic acid cycle pathways are probably functional in A. castellanii.


1963 ◽  
Vol 158 (971) ◽  
pp. 143-155 ◽  

The CO 2 output of potatoes held at 15 °C in oxygen at a pressure of either 2 or 3 atm was first decreased, then increased and finally again decreased. The increase of CO 2 output was much larger than in carrots (Barker 1961); in oxygen at a pressure of 2 atm the rate of CO 2 output of potatoes was increased 4.6 fold; taking into account the accumulation of citrate, the ‘total carbon traffic’ was increased 5.6 fold in oxygen. This increase was believed to occur mainly in a pathway which was not the tricarboxylic acid cycle. As in potatoes held at 1 °C in an atmosphere of oxygen (Barker & Mapson 1955), citrate accumulated and α -ketoglutarate decreased in potatoes, held at 15 °C in oxygen at pressures of 2 or 3 atm; these changes were accepted as demonstrating the occurrence of the tri­-carboxylic acid cycle. The final decrease of CO 2 output in oxygen appeared not to be related to the occurrence of ‘blocks’ either between citrate and α -ketoglutarate or of pyruvate or α -ketoglutarate oxidases; the inhibition might be due to a shortage of sugar phosphate substrates, caused possibly by oxygen inhibition of cytochrome- c reductase. The outburst of CO 2 , which occurred in potatoes first held in oxygen and then returned to air, could not be attributed solely to oxidation of accumulated citrate.


2019 ◽  
Vol 317 (2) ◽  
pp. F419-F434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Onishi ◽  
Yiling Fu ◽  
Manjula Darshi ◽  
Maria Crespo-Masip ◽  
Winnie Huang ◽  
...  

Na+/H+exchanger isoform 3 (NHE3) contributes to Na+/bicarbonate reabsorption and ammonium secretion in early proximal tubules. To determine its role in the diabetic kidney, type 1 diabetic Akita mice with tubular NHE3 knockdown [Pax8-Cre; NHE3-knockout (KO) mice] were generated. NHE3-KO mice had higher urine pH, more bicarbonaturia, and compensating increases in renal mRNA expression for genes associated with generation of ammonium, bicarbonate, and glucose (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase) in proximal tubules and H+and ammonia secretion and glycolysis in distal tubules. This left blood pH and bicarbonate unaffected in nondiabetic and diabetic NHE3-KO versus wild-type mice but was associated with renal upregulation of proinflammatory markers. Higher renal phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase expression in NHE3-KO mice was associated with lower Na+-glucose cotransporter (SGLT)2 and higher SGLT1 expression, indicating a downward tubular shift in Na+and glucose reabsorption. NHE3-KO was associated with lesser kidney weight and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) independent of diabetes and prevented diabetes-associated albuminuria. NHE3-KO, however, did not attenuate hyperglycemia or prevent diabetes from increasing kidney weight and GFR. Higher renal gluconeogenesis may explain similar hyperglycemia despite lower SGLT2 expression and higher glucosuria in diabetic NHE3-KO versus wild-type mice; stronger SGLT1 engagement could have affected kidney weight and GFR responses. Chronic kidney disease in humans is associated with reduced urinary excretion of metabolites of branched-chain amino acids and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, a pattern mimicked in diabetic wild-type mice. This pattern was reversed in nondiabetic NHE3-KO mice, possibly reflecting branched-chain amino acids use for ammoniagenesis and tricarboxylic acid cycle upregulation to support formation of ammonia, bicarbonate, and glucose in proximal tubule. NHE3-KO, however, did not prevent the diabetes-induced urinary downregulation in these metabolites.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Kepron ◽  
M. Novak ◽  
B.J. Blackburn

AbstractCarbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was employed to investigate alterations in hepatic carbohydrate metabolism inMeriones unguiculatusinfected withEchinococcus multilocularis. Following portal vein injections of an equimolar mixture of ]#x005B;1,2-13C2]acetate and [3-13C]lactate, perchloric acid extracts of the livers were prepared and NMR spectra obtained. Isotopomer analysis using glutamate resonances in these spectra showed that the relative contributions of endogenous and exogenous substrates to the acetyl-CoA entering the tricarboxylic acid cycle differed significantly between infected and control groups. The mole fraction of acetyl-CoA that was derived from endogenous, unlabelled sources (FU) was 0.50±0.10 in controls compared to 0.34±0.04 in infected animals. However, the fraction of acetyl-CoA derived from [3-13C]lactate (FLL) was larger in livers of infected animals than those from controls with values of 0.27±0.04 and 0.18±0.04, respectively. Similarly, the fraction of acetyl-CoA derived from [1,2-13C2]acetate (FLA) was larger in livers of infected animals compared to those in controls; the fractions were 0.38±0.01 and 0.32±0.07, respectively. The ratio of FLA:FLLwas significantly smaller in the infected group with a value of 1.42±0.18 compared to 1.74±0.09 for the controls. These results indicate that alveolar hydatid disease has a pronounced effect on the partitioning of substrates within the pathways of carbohydrate metabolism in the host liver.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (10) ◽  
pp. 1210-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhagu R. Bhavnani ◽  
Duncan G. Wallace

The metabolic pathways by which the glycogen is utilized by fetal tissues is not well established. In the present study the ontogeny of seven key enzymes involved in glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle has been established for rabbit fetal lung, heart, and liver. In the fetal lung the activities of phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, lactic dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, and malate dehydrogenase increase from day 21 to 25. Thereafter the levels either drop to day 19 levels or do not change. The isocitrate dehydrogenase activity continues to increase from day 19 of gestation to maximum level on day 31 of gestation. In fetal heart the pattern of activity is similar, but in fetal liver most of the enzymes reach maximum levels earlier and, with the exception of pyruvate kinase, do not show a significant fall in activity near term. The pattern of development of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex is different; maximum activity is observed on day 27 in fetal lung and heart and on day 21 in fetal liver. These results indicate that all three fetal tissues can oxidize glucose. Also, the accumulation of glycogen, particularly in fetal lung, appears to ensure that at specific times during gestation adequate quantities of energy (ATP) and substrates, required for surfactant phospholipid synthesis, are available independent of maternal supply of glucose or during brief episodes of hypoxia.Key words: glycogen, glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, pyruvate dehydrogenase, surfactant.


1968 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Heath

A scheme is presented that shows how the reactions involved in gluconeogenesis, glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle are linked in rat liver. Equations are developed that show how label is redistributed in aspartate, glutamate and phosphopyruvate when it is introduced as specifically labelled pyruvate or glucose either at a constant rate (steady-state theory) or at a variable rate (non-steady-state theory). For steady-state theory the fractions of label introduced as specifically labelled pyruvate that are incorporated into glucose and carbon dioxide are also given, and for both theories the specific radioactivities of aspartate and glutamate relative to the specific radioactivity of the substrate. The theories allow for entry of label into the tricarboxylic acid cycle via both oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA, for 14CO2 fixation and for loss of label from the tricarboxylic acid cycle in glutamate, but not for losses in citrate. They also allow for incomplete symmetrization of label in oxaloacetate due to incomplete equilibration with fumarate both in the extramitochondrial part of the cell and in the mitochondrion on entry of oxaloacetate into the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In the latter case failure both of oxaloacetate to equilibrate with malate and of malate to equilibrate with fumarate are considered.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (6) ◽  
pp. C2004-C2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
My-Hanh T. Nguyen ◽  
S. J. Dudycha ◽  
M. Saleet Jafri

The energy production of mitochondria in heart increases during exercise. Several works have suggested that calcium acts at multiple control points to activate net ATP production in what is termed “parallel activation”. To study this, a computational model of mitochondrial energy metabolism in the heart has been developed that integrates the Dudycha-Jafri model for the tricarboxylic acid cycle with the Magnus-Keizer model for mitochondrial energy metabolism and calcium dynamics. The model improves upon the previous formulation by including an updated formulation for calcium dynamics, and new descriptions of sodium, hydrogen, phosphate, and ATP balance. To this end, it incorporates new formulations for the calcium uniporter, sodium-calcium exchange, sodium-hydrogen exchange, the F1F0-ATPase, and potassium-hydrogen exchange. The model simulates a wide range of experimental data, including steady-state and simulated pacing protocols. The model suggests that calcium is a potent activator of net ATP production and that as pacing increases energy production due to calcium goes up almost linearly. Furthermore, it suggests that during an extramitochondrial calcium transient, calcium entry and extrusion cause a transient depolarization that serve to increase NADH production by the tricarboxylic acid cycle and NADH consumption by the respiration driven proton pumps. The model suggests that activation of the F1F0-ATPase by calcium is essential to increase ATP production. In mitochondria very close to the release sites, the depolarization is more severe causing a temporary loss of ATP production. However, due to the short duration of the depolarization the net ATP production is also increased.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 2626-2638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Jalloh ◽  
Adel Helmy ◽  
Duncan J Howe ◽  
Richard J Shannon ◽  
Peter Grice ◽  
...  

Following traumatic brain injury, complex cerebral energy perturbations occur. Correlating with unfavourable outcome, high brain extracellular lactate/pyruvate ratio suggests hypoxic metabolism and/or mitochondrial dysfunction. We investigated whether focal administration of succinate, a tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate interacting directly with the mitochondrial electron transport chain, could improve cerebral metabolism. Microdialysis perfused disodium 2,3-13C2 succinate (12 mmol/L) for 24 h into nine sedated traumatic brain injury patients' brains, with simultaneous microdialysate collection for ISCUS analysis of energy metabolism biomarkers (nine patients) and nuclear magnetic resonance of 13C-labelled metabolites (six patients). Metabolites 2,3-13C2 malate and 2,3-13C2 glutamine indicated tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolism, and 2,3-13C2 lactate suggested tricarboxylic acid cycle spinout of pyruvate (by malic enzyme or phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and pyruvate kinase), then lactate dehydrogenase-mediated conversion to lactate. Versus baseline, succinate perfusion significantly decreased lactate/pyruvate ratio (p = 0.015), mean difference −12%, due to increased pyruvate concentration (+17%); lactate changed little (−3%); concentrations decreased for glutamate (−43%) (p = 0.018) and glucose (−15%) (p = 0.038). Lower lactate/pyruvate ratio suggests better redox status: cytosolic NADH recycled to NAD+ by mitochondrial shuttles (malate-aspartate and/or glycerol 3-phosphate), diminishing lactate dehydrogenase-mediated pyruvate-to-lactate conversion, and lowering glutamate. Glucose decrease suggests improved utilisation. Direct tricarboxylic acid cycle supplementation with 2,3-13C2 succinate improved human traumatic brain injury brain chemistry, indicated by biomarkers and 13C-labelling patterns in metabolites.


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