Reciprocal effects of 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose and glucose on their metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae studied by multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy

Abstract The effects of various concentrations of 2-fluoro-2-deoxy- d -glucose (FDG) on the aerobic metabolism of glucose and the reciprocal effect of glucose on the metabolism of FDG in glucose-grown repressed Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells were studied at 30°C in a standard pyrophosphate medium containing 5 × 10 7 cells/ml by 1 H-, 19 F-, 31 P-NMR and biochemical techniques. The glucose consumption rate is reduced by about 57% and 71% in the presence of 5 mM FDG and 10 mM FDG respectively. Under the same conditions, the ethanol production rate also decreases about 54% and 68%, respectively. When FDG is the unique carbon source, the α- and β-anomers of 2-fluoro-2-deoxy- d -glucose-6-phosphate (FDG6P) and a much smaller quantity of 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-gluconic acid (FDGA) were observed. The quantities of α- and β-FDG6P reach their maximum values within 1 h of incubation and then decrease continuously. In contrast, Glc favors the consumption of FDG and the synthesis of FDG6P and uridine-5′-diphosphate fluorodeoxy-glucose (UDP-FDG). In the presence of Glc, FDG6P reaches a plateau after 1 h or 2 h of incubation while UDP-FDG increases regularly with time. Apart from trehalose, no other disaccharide such as fluoro-dideoxy-trehalose (FDG-FDG) or fluoro-deoxy-trehalose (FDG-Glc) were observed. Thus, in contrast to UDP-Glc, UDP-DG, Glc6P and DG6P, UDP-FDG and FDG6P are not good substrates for trehalose-6-P synthetase. The effect of DG and FDG on the cell growth in standard nutrient media was also investigated at 37°C. The cell growth was found to be completely inhibited upon addition of 1 mM FDG and only slowed down in the presence of 1 mM DG. In the latter case, the doubling time τ is about 3 h instead of 1 h 25′ in the absence of DG and FDG. The reciprocal effects of FDG and Glc on their metabolism, the toxicity of FDG and the blockage level of enzymes induced by FDG are discussed in comparison with 2-deoxy- d -glucose (DG) and Glc. The above results clearly show that the metabolism and the toxicity of a drug strongly depend on the physiological state of cells.