The functional molecular sizes of the protein(s) mediating the carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) activity and the [14C]malonyl-CoA binding in purified outer-membrane preparations from rat liver mitochondria were determined by radiation-inactivation analysis. In all preparations tested the dose-dependent decay in [14C]malonyl-CoA binding was less steep than that for CPT I activity, suggesting that the protein involved in malonyl-CoA binding may be smaller than that catalysing the CPT I activity. The respective sizes computed from simultaneous analysis for molecular-size standards exposed under identical conditions were 60,000 and 83,000 DA for malonyl-CoA binding and CPT I activity respectively. In irradiated membranes the sensitivity of CPT activity to malonyl-CoA inhibition was increased, as judged by malonyl-CoA inhibition curves for the activity in control and in irradiated membranes that had received 20 Mrad radiation and in which CPT activity had decayed by 60%. Possible correlations between these data and other recent observations on the CPT system are discussed.
The concentrations of malonyl-CoA, citrate, ketone bodies and long-chain acylcarnitine were measured in freeze-clamped liver samples from fed or starved normal, partially hepatectomized or sham-operated rats. These parameters were used in conjunction with measurements of the concentration of plasma non-esterified fatty acids and the rates of hepatic lipogenesis to obtain correlations between rates of fatty acid delivery to the liver, lipogenesis and fatty acid oxidation to ketone bodies and CO2. These correlations indicated that the development of fatty liver after partial hepatectomy is due to an increased partitioning of long-chain acyl-CoA towards acylglycerol synthesis and away from acylcarnitine formation. However, this did not appear to be due to an altered relationship between hepatic malonyl-CoA concentration and acylcarnitine formation. For any concentration of long-chain acylcarnitine, the concentrations of both hepatic and blood ketone bodies were significantly lower in partially hepatectomized rats than in normal or sham-operated animals. This indicated that a lower proportion of the product of beta-oxidation was used for ketone-body formation and more for citrate synthesis in the regenerating liver, especially during the first 24 h after resection. This inference was supported by the changes in hepatic citrate concentrations observed. The high rates of lipogenesis that occurred in the liver remnant were accompanied by an altered relationship between lipogenic rate and hepatic malonyl-CoA concentration, such that much lower concentrations of malonyl-CoA were associated with any given rate of lipogenesis. These adaptations are discussed in relation to the requirements by the remnant for high rates of energy formation through the tricarboxylic acid cycle during the first 24 h after resection, and the possibility that cycling between fatty acid oxidation and synthesis may occur to a greater degree in regenerating liver.
The release of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) activity from rat liver mitochondria by increasing concentrations of digitonin was studied for mitochondrial preparations from fed, 48 h-starved and diabetic animals. A bimodal release of activity was observed only for mitochondria isolated from starved and, to a lesser degree, from diabetic rats, and it appeared to result primarily from the enhanced release of approx. 40% and 60%, respectively, of the total CPT activity. This change in the pattern of release was specific to CPT among the marker enzymes studied. For all three types of mitochondria there was no substantial release of CPT concurrently with that of the marker enzyme for the soluble intermembrane space, adenylate kinase. These results illustrate that the bimodal pattern of release of CPT reported previously for mitochondria from starved rats [Bergstrom & Reitz (1980) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 204, 71-79] is not an immutable consequence of the localization of CPT activity on either side of the mitochondrial inner membrane. Sequential loss of CPT I (i.e. the overt form) from the mitochondrial inner membrane did not affect the concentration of malonyl-CoA required to effect fractional inhibition of the CPT I that remained associated with the mitochondria. The results are discussed in relation to the possibility that altered enzyme-membrane interactions may account for some of the altered regulatory properties of CPT I in liver mitochondria of animals in different physiological states.
Time courses for inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) I activity in, and [14C]malonyl-CoA binding to, liver mitochondria from fed or 48 h-starved rats were obtained at 37 degrees C by using identical incubation conditions and a fixed concentration of malonyl-CoA (3.5 microM), which represents the middle of the physiological range observed previously [Zammit (1981) Biochem. J. 198, 75-83] Incubation of mitochondria in the absence of malonyl-CoA resulted in a time-dependent decrease in the ability of the metabolite instantaneously to inhibit CPT I and to bind to the mitochondria. Both degree of inhibition and binding were restored in parallel over a period of 6-8 min on subsequent addition of malonyl-CoA to the incubation medium. However, the increased inhibition of CPT I activity on addition of mitochondria directly to malonyl-CoA-containing medium was not accompanied by an increase in the amount of [14C]malonyl-CoA bound to mitochondria at 37 degrees C. Time courses for binding of [14C]malonyl-CoA performed at 0 degree C were different from those obtained at 37 degrees C. There was little loss of ability of [14C]malonyl-CoA to bind to mitochondria on incubation in the absence of the metabolite, but there was a time-dependent increase in binding on addition of mitochondria to malonyl-CoA-containing medium. It is suggested that these temperature-dependent differences between the time courses obtained may be due to the occurrence of different changes at 37 degrees C and at 0 degree C in the relative contributions of different components (with different affinities) to the binding observed at 3.5 microM-malonyl-CoA. Evidence for multi-component binding was obtained in the form of strongly curvilinear Scatchard plots for instantaneous (5s) binding of malonyl-CoA to mitochondria. Such multi-component binding would be expected from previous results on the different affinities of CPT I for malonyl-CoA with respect to inhibition [Zammit (1984) Biochem. J. 218, 379-386]. Mitochondria obtained from starved rats showed qualitatively the same time courses as those described above, with notable quantitative differences with respect both to the absolute extents of CPT I inhibition and [14C]malonyl-CoA binding achieved as well as to the time taken to attain them.
The topology of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) in the outer membrane of rat liver mitochondria was studied using several approaches. 1. The accessibility of the active site and malonyl-CoA-binding site of the enzyme from the cytosolic aspect of the membrane was investigated using preparations of octanoyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA immobilized on to agarose beads to render them impermeant through the outer membrane. Both immobilized ligands were fully able to interact effectively with CPT I. 2. The effects of proteinase K and trypsin on the activity and malonyl-CoA sensitivity of CPT I were studied using preparations of mitochondria that were either intact or had their outer membranes ruptured by hypo-osmotic swelling (OMRM). Proteinase K had a marked but similar effect on CPT I activity irrespective of whether only the cytosolic or both sides of the membrane were exposed to it. However, it affected sensitivity more rapidly in OMRM. By contrast, trypsin only reduced CPT I activity when incubated with OMRM. The sensitivity of the residual CPT I activity was unaffected by trypsin. 3. The proteolytic fragments generated by these treatments were studied by Western blotting using three anti-peptide antibodies raised against linear epitopes of CPT I. These showed that a proteinase K-sensitive site close to the N-terminus was accessible from the cytosolic side of the membrane. No trypsin-sensitive sites were accessible in intact mitochondria. In OMRM, both proteinase K and trypsin acted from the inter-membrane space side of the membrane. 4. The ability of intact mitochondria and OMRM to bind to each of the three anti-peptide antibodies was used to study the accessibility of the respective epitopes on the cytosolic and inter-membrane space sides of the membrane. 5. The results of all these approaches indicate that CPT I adopts a bitopic topology within the mitochondrial outer membrane; it has two transmembrane domains, and both the N- and C-termini are exposed on the cytosolic side of the membrane, whereas the linker region between the transmembrane domains protrudes into the intermembrane space.
1. The activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.2) in extracts of freeze-clamped liver samples from fed or 24 h-starved virgin, pregnant, lactating and weaned rats was measured (i) immediately after preparation of extracts ('I activity'), (ii) after incubation of extracts with partially purified preparations of either rabbit muscle protein phosphatase 1 [Antoniw, Nimmo, Yeaman & Cohen (1977) Biochem. J.162, 423–433] or rabbit liver phosphatase [Brandt, Capulong & Lee (1975) J. Biol. Chem.250, 8038–8044] ('A activity') and (iii) after incubation with 20mm-potassium citrate before or after incubation with phosphatases ('C activity'). 2. Incubation of liver extracts at 30°C without any additions resulted in activation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase that was shown to be due to dephosphorylation of the enzyme by endogenous protein phosphatase activity. This latter activity was not stimulated by Ca2+ and/or Mg2+ but was stimulated by 1 mm-Mn2+. Incubation of extracts with either of the partially purified phosphatases (0.2–0.5 unit) resulted in faster dephosphorylation and activation. The activity achieved after incubation with either of the exogenously added phosphatases was similar. 3. The A and C activities increased during late pregnancy, were lower than in the virgin rat liver during early lactation and increased by 2-fold in liver of mid-lactating rats. Weaning of mid-lactating rats for 24 h resulted in no change in A and C activities but after 48 h weaning they were significantly lower than those in livers from suckled mothers. 4. The I activity followed a similar pattern of changes as the A and C activities during pregnancy and lactation such that, although the I/A and I/C activity ratios tended to be lower during late pregnancy and early lactation, there were no significant changes in I/A and I/C ratios between lactating and virgin animals. However, these ratios were significantly higher in liver from fed 24 h-weaned animals. 5. Starvation (24 h) resulted in a marked decrease in I activity for all animals studied except early-lactating rats. This was due to a combination of a decrease in the concentration of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in liver of starved animals (A and C activities) and a decrease in the fraction of the enzyme in the active form (lower I/C and I/A ratios). The relative importance of the two forms of regulation in mediating the starvation-induced fall in I activity was about equal in livers of virgin, pregnant and lactating animals. However, the decrease in I/A and I/C ratios was of dominating importance in livers of weaned animals. The A/C activity ratios were the same for livers from all animals studied. 6. The maximal activity of fatty acid synthase was also measured in livers and was highly and positively correlated with the A and C activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, suggesting that the concentrations of the two enzymes in the liver were controlled coordinately. 7. It is suggested that the lack of correlation between plasma insulin levels and rates of lipogenesis in the transition from the virgin to the lactating state may be explained by different effects of insulin and prolactin on the concentration of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in the liver and on the fraction of the enzyme in the active form.
1. Estimates of the functional sizes of the molecular species responsible for the overt (I) and latent (II) activities of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) in 48 h-starved rat liver mitochondria were obtained from radiation inactivation experiments. 2. The decay in the activity of total CPT and that of CPT II only (after inhibition of CPT I) was measured in mitochondrial samples exposed to different doses of high-energy ionizing radiation. 3. The decay curves obtained by plotting residual activity of total CPT as a logarithm function of irradiation dose suggested the contribution of more than one target towards total CPT activity. 4. By contrast, in mitochondria in which CPT I activity was approximately 95% inhibited, the activity of CPT decayed in a simple mono-exponential manner. Target-size analysis yielded an approximate Mr of 69,700 for this component (CPT II). 5. This information, as well as that on the relative non-irradiated activities of CPT I and CPT II, was used in graphical and statistical methods to obtain the parameters of the decay curve for CPT I. These analyses yielded an approximate Mr of 96,700 for CPT I.
The [3H]tetradecylglycidyl-CoA (TDG-CoA)-binding protein (Mr approx. 88,000) of purified outer membranes from rat liver mitochondria was identified by SDS/PAGE. The region in which it migrated was shown to contain another protein which stained strongly with periodic acid-Schiff reagent and could be removed from membrane extracts by incubation with Sepharose-concanavalin A. Amounts of TDG-CoA-binding protein were prepared from lectin-treated extracts using preparative SDS/PAGE and used to raise a polyclonal antibody in a sheep. The IgG fraction purified from this anti-serum reacted strongly with a protein of Mr approximately 88,000 on Western blots, and much more weakly with two other proteins of Mr approximately 76,000 and Mr approximately 53,000 in extracts of rat liver mitochondrial outer membranes. The crude IgG fraction and immunopurified IgG both removed carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) I activity from very pure outer membrane extracts, suggesting that the TDG-CoA-binding protein against which the antiserum was raised also expresses CPT I activity. This was confirmed by the demonstration of a strong positive correlation between CPT I activity and the amount of immunoreactive protein of Mr approximately 88,000 in mitochondria prepared from rats in different physiological states. By contrast, the antibody did not react with CPT II either in mitochondria or in purified form. Similarly, an anti-(CPT II) antibody did not cross-react with CPT I on Western blots, proving conclusively that CPT I and CPT II are immunologically distinct proteins, as well as being of different functional molecular sizes [Zammit, Corstophine & Kelliher (1988) Biochem. J. 250, 415-420]. Immunoblots of mitochondrial proteins obtained from different tissues indicated that, of the rat tissues tested, only kidney cortex mitochondria contain the same isoform of CPT I as that in liver. Heart, skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue mitochondria contain a slightly smaller isoform which was only weakly reactive with anti-(rat liver CPT I) antibody, indicating that these tissues contain a molecularly quite distinct isoenzyme. This would explain the previous observations that CPT I in these tissues has markedly different kinetic characteristics from the isoenzyme present in liver mitochondria.
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