The carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase facilitates carnitine and acylcarnitine transport into the mitochondrial matrix during beta-oxidation. Our results demonstrate that chymotrypsin can activate the maximal velocity of N-ethylmaleimide (NEM)-sensitive carnitine or palmitoylcarnitine exchange 7-fold, while doubling the affinity of the translocase for carnitine. Chymotrypsin activation is strictly dependent on the presence of free or short-chain acylcarnitine in the proteolysis medium, the extent of activation decreasing as the acylcarnitine chain length in the proteolysis medium increases. Chymotrypsin treatment decreases the apparent I50 value (inhibitor concentration required to give half-maximal inhibition) of the translocase for inhibition by NEM only under conditions which produce translocase activation. Modification of submitochondrial particle membranes by chymotrypsin does not result in gross ultrastructural changes or in an increase in the passive permeability of these membranes to carnitine. The data suggest that carnitine binding produces a change in translocase conformation which allows chymotrypsin modification to occur. This modification alters the kinetic and inhibitor-binding properties of the translocase. (+info)
L-carnitine acyltransferase in intact peroxisomes is inhibited by malonyl-CoA.
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Inhibition of the overt mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyltransferase by malonyl-CoA is important in the regulation of fatty acid oxidation. In the past, the contribution of peroxisomal carnitine acyltransferase activity to the generation of medium- and long-chain acylcarnitines in the cytoplasm has been ignored. On the basis of marker enzyme levels, we now estimate that peroxisomal palmitoyltransferase activity constitutes about 20% of the peroxisomal plus overt-mitochondrial pool in fed rat liver. When assayed in situ, both the palmitoyltransferase and decanoyltransferase activities of gradient-purified peroxisomes are sensitive to malonyl-CoA, with up to 90% inhibition reached at less than 10 microM-malonyl-CoA. Very similar results were obtained with intact gradient-purified mitochondria from the same livers. In addition, the acyl-CoA substrate chain-length specificity was identical in both the peroxisomes and the mitochondria, with a decanoyltransferase/palmitoyltransferase ratio of 2. Thus the overt carnitine acyltransferase activities in peroxisomes and mitochondria have the same properties. Further, the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of the peroxisomal activity is lost on solubilization, as has been observed for the overt mitochondrial enzyme. It is suggested that malonyl-CoA inhibition of the peroxisomal enzyme as well as of the mitochondrial enzyme is important for the regulation of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. (+info)
Effect of L-carnitine and L-aminocarnitine on calcium transport, motility, and enzyme release from ejaculated bovine spermatozoa.
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Experiments were performed to further elucidate the role of gamma-amino-beta-hydroxybutyric acid trimethylbetaine (carnitine) on the metabolism and functions of spermatozoa. Addition of 20 mM L-carnitine to suspensions of ejaculated bovine spermatozoa resulted in an increase of cellular calcium transport, whereas 20 mM L-aminocarnitine (an inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyltransferase) caused an inhibition of this process. Both L-carnitine and L-aminocarnitine inhibited the progressive motility of spermatozoa, and the oxygen consumption as well as the release of the enzymes hyaluronidase and glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase from spermatozoa. Labeled carnitine was rapidly taken up by spermatozoa by a process strongly dependent on temperature and extracellular concentration of carnitine. It is concluded that the effects produced by high concentrations of carnitine or aminocarnitine are mainly due to interactions of these compounds with the cellular membranes of spermatozoa. (+info)
Effects of inhibition of fatty acid oxidation on myocardial kinetics of 11C-labeled palmitate.
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The effects of glucose and lactate infusion on palmitate oxidation were compared with the effect of 2-tetradecylglycidic acid (TDGA), an irreversible inhibitor of the carnitine acyltransferase I, in normoxic canine myocardium. The initial capillary transit retention fraction of [1-11C]palmitate and its fractional distribution between oxidation and esterification in myocardium were measured by the residue detection method after intracoronary tracer injection, as well as by effluent measurements of 11CO2, the end product of palmitate oxidation. TDGA reduced the initial capillary transit retention fraction (from 56 +/- 13% to 37 +/- 6%; p less than 0.001) and oxidation of palmitate (n = 19), as also evidenced by the decrease in the fraction of tracer released as 11CO2 from 28 +/- 5% to 6 +/- 3% (p less than 0.001). Infusion of carbohydrate (glucose or lactate; n = 6) reduced 11CO2 production from 30 +/- 7% to 7 +/- 4% (p less than 0.05) but did not alter the initial capillary transit retention fraction of tracer (59 +/- 5% vs. 56 +/- 10%; NS). The latter was due to increased esterification into neutral lipids (41 +/- 11% of injected palmitate after carbohydrate infusion versus 21 +/- 12% in control conditions), as measured from multiexponential curve fittings. When carbohydrates were given after inhibition of palmitate oxidation by TDGA (n = 7), the 11C tissue clearance kinetics were strikingly similar to those observed after carbohydrate infusion alone. Thus, enhanced metabolic trapping of [1-11C]palmitate in myocardium resulted in initial capillary transit retention fractions that were not different from control conditions (41 +/- 5% vs. 48 +/- 12%; NS) despite inhibition of oxidation. The results show that the intracellular metabolism of palmitate contributes to the control of its uptake by myocardium. The findings are consistent with inhibition of palmitate oxidation by carbohydrates occurring at the same site as TDGA. (+info)
Isolation and identification of aliphatic short-chain acylcarnitines from beef heart: possible role for carnitine in branched-chain amino acid metabolism.
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Aliphatic acylearnitines isolated from a water-soluble fraction of beef heart have been characterized by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The following acyl residues derived from the acylcarnitine fraction were unequivocally identified: acetyl, propionyl, isobutyryl, butyryl, alpha-methylbutyryl, valeryl, isovaleryl, tiglyl, and caproyl. beta-methylcrotonyl and methacrylyl were tentatively identified. This occurrence of considerable quantities of branched-chain acylcarnitines indicates a role for carnitine in branched-chain amino acid metabolism. (+info)
Co-ordinate induction of hepatic mitochondrial and peroxisomal carnitine acyltransferase synthesis by diet and drugs.
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The present studies examined the effect of agents that induce peroxisomal and mitochondrial beta-oxidation on hepatic mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) and peroxisomal carnitine acyltransferase [CPTs of Ramsay (1988) Biochem. J. 249, 239-245; COT of Farrell & Bieber (1983) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 222, 123-132 and Miyazawa, Ozasa, Osumi & Hashimoto (1983) J. Biochem. 94, 529-542]. In the first studies, high fat diets containing corn oil or fish oil were used to induce peroxisomal and mitochondrial enzymes. Rats were fed one of three diets for 4 weeks: (1) low fat, with corn oil as 11% of energy (kJ); (2) high fat, with corn oil as 45% of kJ; (3) high fat, with fish oil as 45% of kJ. At the end of 4 weeks, both mitochondrial CPT and peroxisomal CPTs exhibited increases in activity, immunoreactive protein, mRNA levels and transcription rates in livers of rats fed either high-fat diet compared to the low fat diet. Riboflavin deficiency or starvation for 48 h also increased the peroxisomal CPTs mRNA. A second set of studies used the plasticizer 2-(diethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), 0.5% clofibrate or 1% acetylsalicylic acid (fed for 3 weeks) to alter peroxisomal and mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. With DEHP, the mitochondrial CPT and peroxisomal CPTs activity, immunoreactive protein, mRNA levels and and transcription rate were all increased by 3-5-fold. The peroxisomal CPTs activity, immunoreactive protein, mRNA levels and transcription rate were increased 2-3-fold by clofibrate and acetylsalicylic acid, again similar to mitochondrial CPT. The results of the combined studies using both diet and drugs to cause enzyme induction suggest that the synthesis of the carnitine acyltransferases (mitochondrial CPT and peroxisomal CPTs) may be co-ordinated with each other; however, the co-ordinate regulatory factors have not yet been identified. (+info)
Participation of peroxisomes in lipid biosynthesis in the harderian gland of guinea pig.
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Peroxisomal enzyme activities in the guinea-pig harderian gland, which has a unique lipid composition, were studied. Activities of catalase, acyl-CoA oxidase and the cyanide-insensitive acyl-CoA beta-oxidation system in this tissue were comparable with those in rat liver. The activities of dihydroxyacetone phosphate acyltransferase (DHAPAT, EC 2.3.1.42) and alkyl-DHAP synthase (EC 2.5.1.26) were appreciable, and the distributions of both activities were consistent with that of sedimentable catalase activity. Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT, EC 2.3.1.15), which is localized in both microsomes (microsomal fractions) and mitochondria in the rat liver, was a peroxisomal enzyme in the harderian gland, though the activity was only about one-tenth of the DHAPAT activity. These enzymes had different pH profiles and substrate specificity. The existence of high activities of enzymes of the acyl-DHAP pathway in peroxisomes suggests the physiological significance of peroxisomes in the biosynthesis of glycerol ether phospholipid and 1-alkyl-2,3-diacylglycerol in the guinea-pig harderian gland. (+info)
Peroxisomal and mitochondrial beta-oxidation of monocarboxylyl-CoA, omega-hydroxymonocarboxylyl-CoA and dicarboxylyl-CoA esters in tissues from untreated and clofibrate-treated rats.
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In control rats, long-chain monocarboxylyl-CoA, omega-hydroxymonocarboxylyl-CoA, and dicarboxylyl-CoA esters were substrates for hepatic, renal, and myocardial peroxisomal beta-oxidation. The latter enzyme system could not be detected in skeletal muscle. Clofibrate treatment resulted in an enhancement of peroxisomal beta-oxidizing capacity in various tissues. Intact mitochondria from control rat liver and kidney cortex incubated in the presence of L-carnitine were capable of oxidizing long-chain monocarboxylyl-CoAs and omega-hydroxymonocarboxylyl-CoAs but not dicarboxylyl-CoAs. However, control rat liver mitochondria permeabilized by digitonin oxidized dodecanedioyl-CoA indicating that the liver mitochondrial beta-oxidation system can act on dicarboxylyl-CoA esters even if the overall intact mitochondrial system is inactive on these substrates. Intact liver mitochondria from clofibrate-treated animals rapidly oxidized lauroyl-CoA and 12-hydroxylauroyl-CoA but not dodecanedioyl-CoA. These mitochondria were active on hexadecanedioyl-CoA and this activity amounted to 20-25% of that measured with palmitoyl-CoA and 16-hydroxypalmitoyl-CoA as substrates. No mitochondrial dicarboxylyl-CoA oxidation could be detected in kidney cortex from animals receiving clofibrate in their diet. Heart and skeletal muscle intact mitochondria from untreated and clofibrate-treated rats were capable of oxidizing each type of acyl-CoA as a substrate. Dicarboxylyl-CoA synthetase and carnitine dicarboxylyltransferase activities were detected in various tissues from untreated and clofibrate-treated rats with the exception of carnitine dodecanedioyltransferase reaction in livers from untreated and clofibrate-treated rats. In skeletal muscle, the acyl-CoA synthetase activities could be detected only in the presence of detergents. (+info)