glutaminase and glyoxylic-acid

Parallel investigations of the transamination pathways of glutamine oxidation in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) and AS 30D hepatoma revealed that hepatoma cells, unlike EAC, produce very little aspartate. This cannot be explained by differences in the activity of glutamine-metabolizing enzymes. Also, the mitochondria from the hepatoma respired at a similar rate to EAC mitochondria with glutamine as sole substrate producing substantial amounts of aspartate. Unlike their isolated mitochondria, intact hepatoma cells showed a very low rate of glutamine oxidation. Compared with EAC, the rate of L-[U-14C]glutamine consumption by AS 30D hepatoma cells was much lower, with insignificant production of 14C-labelled aspartate and CO2. This suggested that the glutamine-transporting system in the hepatoma cell plasma membrane had a very low activity. Isolated hepatoma mitochondria produced 3 times more pyruvate from malate than did EAC mitochondria, indicating a higher activity of NAD(P)-dependent malic enzyme. We postulate that an active malic enzyme may suppress the synthesis of aspartate in hepatoma cells, but further evidence is needed to confirm this assumption.

Topics: Alanine; Animals; Aspartic Acid; Carbon Radioisotopes; Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor; Cell Membrane; Citrates; Citric Acid; Cytosol; Glutaminase; Glutamine; Glyoxylates; Kinetics; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental; Mice; Mitochondria, Liver; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Substrate Specificity; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Uranium

The involvement of glutamine aminotransferase activity in glutamine catabolism by Saccharomyces cerevisiae under microaerophilic conditions was studied. We were able to show that there are at least two different glutamine aminotransferase activities that are differentiated genetically, by their substrate specificity (pyruvate and glyoxylate dependence), and their different modes of regulation. The pyruvate-dependent glutamine aminotransferase activity plays a major role in glutamine catabolism under microaerophilic conditions since the wild-type strain S288C showed a 10-fold higher activity in static cultures than in agitated ones. The same strain also had 3-fold higher glutaminase B activity in agitated cultures than in static ones. Pyruvate-dependent glutamine aminotransferase activity is not regulated directly by O2 itself since a rho- strain showed a high activity regardless of the extent of aeration of cultures. Finally, we were able to isolate a mutant, strain CN20, derived from the rho- strain and unable to utilize glutamine as the sole nitrogen source, which was severely affected in pyruvate-dependent but not in glyoxylate-dependent aminotransferase activity.

Topics: Aerobiosis; Glutaminase; Glutamine; Glyoxylates; Mutation; Pyruvates; Pyruvic Acid; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Species Specificity; Transaminases