Studies of Hepatic Glutamine Metabolism in the Perfused Rat Liver with 15N-Labeled Glutamine

Abstract This study examines the role of glucagon and insulin in the incorporation of 15N derived from 15N-labeled glutamine into aspartate, citrulline and, thereby, [15N]urea isotopomers. Rat livers were perfused, in the nonrecirculating mode, with 0.3 mm NH4Cl and either 2-15N- or 5-15N-labeled glutamine (1 mm). The isotopic enrichment of the two nitrogenous precursor pools (ammonia and aspartate) involved in urea synthesis as well as the production of [15N]urea isotopomers were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This information was used to examine the hypothesis that 5-N of glutamine is directly channeled to carbamyl phosphate (CP) synthesis. The results indicate that the predominant metabolic fate of [2-15N] and [5-15N]glutamine is incorporation into urea. Glucagon significantly stimulated the uptake of 15N-labeled glutamine and its metabolism via phosphate-dependent glutaminase (PDG) to form U m+1 andU m+2 (urea containing one or two atoms of15N). However, insulin had little effect compared with control. The [5-15N]glutamine primarily entered into urea via ammonia incorporation into CP, whereas the [2-15N]glutamine was predominantly incorporated via aspartate. This is evident from the relative enrichments of aspartate and of citrulline generated from each substrate. Furthermore, the data indicate that the 15NH3 that was generated in the mitochondria by either PDG (from 5-15N) or glutamate dehydrogenase (from 2-15N) enjoys the same partition between incorporation into CP or exit from the mitochondria. Thus, there is no evidence for preferential access for ammonia that arises by the action of PDG to carbamyl-phosphate synthetase. To the contrary, we provide strong evidence that such ammonia is metabolized without any such metabolic channeling. The glucagon-induced increase in [15N]urea synthesis was associated with a significant elevation in hepatic N-acetylglutamate concentration. Therefore, the hormonal regulation of [15N]urea isotopomer production depends upon the coordinate action of the mitochondrial PDG pathway and the synthesis ofN-acetylglutamate (an obligatory activator of CP). The current study may provide the theoretical and methodological foundations for in vivo investigations of the relationship between the hepatic urea cycle enzyme activities, the flux of15N-labeled glutamine into the urea cycle, and the production of urea isotopomers.