Topiramate as an inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes.

PURPOSE: This study investigated the effectiveness of topiramate (TPM) as an inhibitor of six isozymes of carbonic anhydrase (CA). METHODS: The inhibition constants (Ki) of TPM and acetazolamide (AZM) for CA I, CA II, CA III, CA IV, CA V, and CA VI were determined for human (HCA), rat (RCA), or mouse (MCA). The activity of CA was studied by using purified isozymes, erythrocytes, subcellular fractions of kidney or brain, and saliva, and was assayed at 37 degrees C or 25 degrees C by 18O mass spectrometry and/or by measuring the pH shift at 0 degrees C. RESULTS: Topiramate Ki values for HCA I, HCA II, HCA IV, and HCA VI were approximately 100, 7, 10, and >100 microM, respectively. TPM Ki values for RCA I, RCA II, RCA III, RCA IV, and RCA V were approximately 180, 0.1 to 1, >100, 0.2 to 10 and 18 microM, respectively. For RCA II and RCA IV, the Ki values were temperature dependent. TPM Ki values for MCA II and MCA IV ranged between 1 and 20 microM. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that TPM is more potent as an inhibitor of CA II and CA IV than of CA I, CA III, and CA VI. In all three species, AZM was usually 10 to 100 times more potent than TPM as an inhibitor of CA isozymes.

Mechanism of the acceleration of CO2 production from pyruvate in liver mitochondria by HCO3-.

To investigate the mechanism by which HCO3- accelerates pyruvate metabolism in guinea pig liver mitochondria, we measured continuously, at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C, 13C16O2 production from [1-13C]pyruvate by mass spectrometry and NADH concentration by fluorescence and analyzed total malate, citrate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate produced by standard biochemical methods. When [1-13C]pyruvate is added to the mitochondrial suspension, 13C16O2 concentration rises steeply in the first seconds and then slows to a steady lower rate. Carbonic anhydrase (CA) eliminates this initial phase, which shows that decarboxylation of pyruvate produces CO2, not HCO3-, and it does this more rapidly than it can equilibrate without CA. HCO3- (25 mM) increased 13C16O2 production, O2 consumption and total malate and citrate production and decreased NADH concentration and total beta-hydroxybutyrate production. After obtaining the total amount of 13C16O2, malate, citrate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate produced, we calculated that the addition of 25 mM HCO3- to the suspension medium increased the amount of pyruvate decarboxylated by pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) 16% and increased the amount carboxylated by pyruvate carboxylase 300%. This supports our initial proposal that HCO3- accelerates the pyruvate carboxylation, which in turn consumes ATP directly and NADH and acetyl CoA secondarily, all of which increase PDH activity. However, we found no acceleration of pyruvate decarboxylation by 0.5 and 1 microM free Ca2+ concentration, unless the mitochondria were uncoupled and ATP was added.

Continuous measurement of 13C16O2 production from [13C]pyruvate by intact liver mitochondria: effect of HCO3-.

We have measured continuously the production of mass 45 CO2(13C16O2) from 13C-labeled pyruvate in a guinea pig liver mitochondrial suspension and simultaneously the O2 consumption at 37 degrees C and pH 7.4. The reactions took place in a closed 3-ml volume, stirred, thermoregulated chamber separated from the ion source of a mass spectrometer by a gas-permeable membrane that permitted recording the mass peaks of any gas dissolved in the reaction mixture with a response time as fast as 3 s. If the pyruvate was labeled on C-2, no 13C16O2 was formed, even after 1 h, indicating that C-2 and C-3 were not metabolized in the citric acid cycle. We found that production of 13C16O2 was five times greater in the presence of 25 mM HCO3- than in its absence. A probable mechanism of this CO2/HCO3- effect is carboxylation of pyruvate to oxaloacetate, which would react with acetyl CoA to form citrate and with NADH to form malate, thus removing two major inhibitors of pyruvate dehydrogenase. We conclude that CO2/HCO3- has a potent and hitherto unappreciated regulatory effect on liver pyruvate dehydrogenase.

Topiramate: preclinical evaluation of structurally novel anticonvulsant.

Topiramate [TPM, 2,3:4,5-bis-O-(1-methylethylidene)-beta-D-fructopyranose sulfamate] (RWJ-17021-000, formerly McN-4853) is a structurally novel antiepileptic drug (AED). The preclinical anticonvulsant profile suggests that TPM acts primarily by blocking the spread of seizures. TPM was highly effective in the maximal electroshock (MES) seizure test in rats and mice. Activity was evident < or = 0.5 h after oral administration and lasted at least 16 h. The ED50 values 4 h after oral dosing were 13.5 and 40.9 mg/kg in rats and mice, respectively. TPM blocked pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced clonic seizures at high doses in mice (ED50 = 1,030 mg/kg orally, p.o.). With motor incoordination and loss of righting reflex used as indicators of neurologic impairment, the neuroprotective index (TD50/MES ED50) for TPM was equivalent or superior to that of several approved AEDs. In mice pretreated with SKF-525A (a P450 enzyme inhibitor), the anticonvulsant potency was either increased or unaffected when TPM was tested 0.5, 1, or 2 h after i.p. administration, suggesting that TPM rather than a metabolite was the active agent. In mice pretreated with reserpine or tetrabenazine, the activity of TPM in the MES test was markedly reduced. TPM was inactive in a variety of receptor binding, neurotransmitter uptake, and ion channel tests. TPM weakly inhibited erythrocyte carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity. However, the anticonvulsant activity of TPM appears to differ mechanistically from that of acetazolamide.

Carbonic anhydrases in cytosol, nucleus, and membranes of rat liver.

The relative contribution of each functional carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozyme to liver CA activity of fed or starved adult male rats has been determined. The functional isozymes are CA II, CA III, CA IV, and CA V. Total CA, CA III, CA II, CA IV, and CA V activities (in mumol CO2 converted.min-1.liver-1), as measured by mass spectrometric assay using NaHC18O16O in aqueous solution at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C, were 94,867, 38,621, 37,000, 14,515, and < 5,000 in fed rats and 40,630, 10,498, 9,137, 18,338, and < 2,600 in starved rats, respectively. CA II was unevenly distributed throughout the liver. In perivenous and periportal cytosols, as determined by the digitonin-pulse perfusion technique, CA II activity was (in mg cytosolic protein-1) 325 and 69 in fed rats and 167 and 33 in starved rats, respectively. CA III was more evenly distributed and less affected by starvation: CA III activity in perivenous and periportal cytosols was (in mg cytosolic protein-1) 84 and 55 in fed rats and 113 and 52 in starved rats, respectively. Evidence that CA III was concentrated in the nucleus was obtained histochemically by the Ridderstråle cobalt-precipitation technique in 2-microns-thick glutaraldehyde-fixed sections from adult fed rats. Liver CA activity was higher in the perivenous hepatocytes in cytosols and nuclei, whereas CA IV was homogeneously distributed. Incubation of the 2-microns sections with 1 microM acetazolamide resulted in inhibition of all membrane-associated CA, 50% of cytosolic CA, and no nuclear CA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Differentiation-dependent expression of carbonic anhydrase II and III in 3T3 adipocytes.

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) was examined in two adipocyte cell lines, 3T3-L1 and 3T3-F442A. Both CA III and non-CA III activities, measured by 18O mass spectrometry, were present in 3T3-L1 and 3T3-F442A adipocytes; however, no CA activity was detected in 3T3 preadipocytes of either line. These observations were supported by immunoblot experiments employing CA III and CA II isoform-specific antisera. CA III, a major protein in rodent and murine adipocytes, and CA II, another isoform known to be present in adipose tissue, were observed only in the differentiated 3T3 adipocytes. The differentiation-dependent expression of these isozymes may imply an adipocyte-related role for CA. Compared with cultures maintained in the absence of insulin, 3T3 adipocytes maintained in the presence of insulin exhibited 65-90% lower concentrations of CA III. CA II was unaffected. This negative effect of insulin on CA III may explain the metabolic regulation of adipose CA III observed in vivo. After media changes, 3T3 adipocyte cultures rapidly lower media pH, which in turn lowers the bicarbonate/CO2 of bicarbonate/CO2-buffered media. Cultures maintained at low pH displayed 50-90% lower concentrations of CA II and CA III. Similarly, cultures maintained in a low bicarbonate/CO2 media (GibCO2-I medium containing 1 mM bicarbonate under an atmosphere of 100% humidified air) displayed 30-50% lower CA II and CA III concentrations. Thus CA II and CA III concentrations are influenced by pH and bicarbonate/CO2. Neither effect, the pH or the GibCO2-I media effect, was associated with changes in the concentration of pyruvate carboxylase or ATP citrate lyase (2 markers of adipocyte differentiation). Because the regulation by pH and bicarbonate/CO2 may be relatively selective for CA in adipocytes, a simple method for reducing the concentration/activity of CA in 3T3 adipocytes is described that may be a useful tool for studies on the physiological role of the enzyme.

Carbonic anhydrase III in obese Zucker rats.

Proteins from 5- to 7-wk-old lean and obese Zucker rats were separated by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and two-dimensional SDS-isoelectric focusing-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Laser densitometry revealed an obesity-related decrease in the concentration of a 28-kDa cytosolic adipocyte protein, the most abundant protein in adipocytes from lean Zucker rats. Microsequencing revealed the identity of this protein to be carbonic anhydrase III (CA III). The identity and obesity-related decrease was further confirmed using isoform-specific antisera and CA III enzyme activity measurements made by 18O mass spectrometry. Immunoblotting studies also revealed that CA III is present in at least two charge isoforms in adipocytes. Our data indicate that lean Zucker rat adipocytes may represent the richest source of CA III in nature (24% of the cytosolic protein content). An obesity-related decrease in both the concentration and activity of CA III was observed in two lipogenic tissues, liver and white fat, but not in soleus muscle. Adipocyte CA III activity was no longer depressed when hyperinsulinemic obese rats were made insulin deficient by streptozotocin injection. This suggests that the obesity-related decrease in CA III may be related to the hyperinsulinemia as well as to the insulin hyperresponsiveness that adipocytes from obese Zucker rats of this age display.

Carbonic anhydrase in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum of male rat liver.

We have prepared subcellular fractions of male rat liver homogenate by the method of Lewis and Tata [Lewis, J. A. & Tata, J. R. (1973) J. Cell Sci. 23, 447-459], further purifying the membranes of the microsomal fraction by exposure to 0.01% Triton X-100 and centrifugation. We determined the purity of the fractions with marker enzymes and measured carbonic anhydrase (CA; EC 4.2.1.1) activity in intact and solubilized particulates with 18O exchange between CO2/HCO3- and water. We measured the concentration of CA by titration with a sulfonamide inhibitor, ethoxzolamide, obtaining an average value of 3.8 mumol/mg of microsomal membrane protein. The equilibrium constant for binding ethoxzolamide was 0.49 x 10(-9) M. The Km for CO2 was 1.7 mM and the turnover number was 560,000 sec-1, characterizing this as a membrane-bound, high-activity isozyme of type IV. By electron microscopy of tissue sections after staining with a cobalt precipitation technique, CA was seen in small cytoplasmic vesicles in hepatocytes and in microsomal particles and membranes. There was a sulfonamide-resistant (isozyme type III) and a sulfonamide-sensitive (isozyme type II) CA in the cytosol but none in the rapidly sedimenting endoplasmic reticulum. We conclude that there is no CA normally within the matrix of the cell endoplasmic reticulum but that the CA type III found in the microsome may have been captured from the cytosol during resealing. Thus the adult male rat hepatocyte contains CA type IV in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum and CA type II and CA type III in the cytoplasm.

Immunocytochemical localization of mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase in rat tissues.

We used a monospecific polyclonal antiserum against mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase (CA V) from rat liver to study tissue localization of this new member of the carbonic anhydrase gene family. Strong granular immunostaining reaction of CA V was observed in hepatocytes, myocardium, and in certain populations of skeletal muscle fibers. This is the first time that mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase is described in cardiac tissue of rat or any other species. Different epithelial cells revealed very heterogeneous staining reaction, suggesting that mitochondria are a heterogeneous population with respect to their CA V content. Many cells in different glandular epithelia did not show any CA V, whereas some cells, such as gastric parietal cells, were intensely stained with CA V antibodies. No systematic co-expression of CA V with CA I, CA II, or CA III was observed, although the distribution of CA V in skeletal muscle was somewhat similar to that of CA III. Connective tissue cells such as fibroblasts, chondroblasts, and osteoblasts were negative.

Expression of hepatic mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase V.

We have raised specific (rabbit anti-rat) polyclonal antibodies to hepatic mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase V (CA V) and used them to assay the amounts of protein expressed in liver mitochondria isolated from term-foetal, control or diabetic adult rats and in perivenous and periportal rat hepatocytes. The levels of CA V expressed in mitochondria isolated from the livers of adult male and female rats are similar and increase (about 2-fold) in mitochondria from adult diabetic rats when compared to those isolated from the livers of control rats. The level of enzyme in adult liver was higher than in the livers of term-foetal rats. CA V is expressed in both perivenous and periportal hepatocytes, but the level of expression is greater (approx. 40%) in perivenous cells. The implications and significance of these findings are discussed with reference to the roles and properties of the other carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes and the metabolic function of the mitochondrial isoenzyme.

Rat renal proximal tubular gluconeogenesis: possible involvement of nonmitochondrial carbonic anhydrase isozymes.

The carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitor ethoxzolamide decreases the rate of glucose synthesis from 10 mM pyruvate by tubules incubating in 25 mM HCO3- but not in 50 mM HCO3-: this is evidence that rat renal cortical mitochondrial CA (CA V) provides HCO3- for pyruvate carboxylation in renal tubular gluconeogenesis at physiological total CO2 (CO2 + HCO3-). In renal proximal tubules prepared from 48-h-starved rats and incubating in 10 mM pyruvate in 25 mM HCO3- buffered saline (Krebs-Henseleit buffer) the CA inhibitors acetazolamide (AZ) and benzolamide (BZ) decreased the rate of glucose synthesis. Maximal inhibition was reached with 125 microM AZ or with 450 microM BZ. The rate of glucose synthesis increased with increasing pyruvate concentration from 3.33 to 20 mM; including 600 microM BZ or 188 microM AZ results in glucose synthesis becoming independent of increasing pyruvate concentration. Doubling the physiological concentration of bicarbonate restored the dependence of glucose synthesis on pyruvate concentration and partly, but not completely, alleviated the inhibitory effect of AZ and BZ, leading to the conclusion that AZ and BZ influence gluconeogenesis by affecting enzymes in addition to CA V. Tubules were incubated with substrates which do not require pyruvate carboxylation for synthesis of oxaloacetate. When tubules were incubated in 10 mM malate the rate of glucose synthesis was unaffected by less than 100 microM AZ or 400 microM BZ and was decreased maximally by 40 and 20%, respectively, by 125 microM AZ, 450 microM BZ, and higher concentrations of these drugs. Increasing the malate concentration from 3.33 to 20 mM increased the rate of glucose synthesis; 600 microM BZ inhibited the rate of glucose synthesis only when the malate concentration was greater than 10 mM but 188 microM AZ decreased the rate of glucose synthesis at each concentration of malate. Results were similar when tubules were incubated in glutamine with CA inhibitors. The rate of glucose synthesis differed with the substrate metabolized and the substrate concentration except when 600 microM BZ was included.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Comparison of 18O exchange and pH stop-flow assays for carbonic anhydrase.

The hydration velocity of CO2 (0.002 M) catalyzed by bovine carbonic anhydrase (BCA) was measured at 25 degrees C and pH 7.4 by three different techniques: two initial-rate (steady-state) stop-flow methods, one using a glass pH electrode (in Hannover, method 1) and one using spectrophotometric measurements of a pH indicator (in Philadelphia, method 2), and an exchange method in which the disappearance of C18O16O from a bicarbonate solution was determined at equilibrium (in Philadelphia, method 3). The Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) and the inhibition constants for chloride (Ki,Cl) and ethoxzolamide (Ki,ez) were the same for methods 1, 2, and 3. The turnover numbers were 270,000, 400,000, and 555,000 s-1 by methods 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Values for CO2 hydration velocity measured by methods 2 and 3 on the same solution of BCA at the same time were the same. Km, maximal reaction velocity (Vmax), Ki,ez, and Ki,Cl obtained from normal human hemolysate at 37 degrees C and pH 7.2 by methods 2 and 3 were the same. Km and Vmax of the carbonic anhydrase isozyme CA III of homogenate from rabbit soleus were also identical by methods 1 and 3. According to Michaelis-Menten theory, the values of Km and Vmax obtained by method 3 should have been significantly smaller than those obtained by methods 1 and 2. We conclude that the catalytic step itself is apparently not rate limiting under physiological conditions and that method 3 can be used to obtain Michaelis-Menten characteristics of carbonic anhydrase.

Differential regulation of hepatic carbonic anhydrase isozymes in the streptozotocin-diabetic rat.

Most work with the male rat liver carbonic anhydrase isozymes in the past decade has centered on the cytosolic CA III and the mitochondrial CA V. This paper reports that the relative activity of both isozymes is altered in streptozotocin-diabetes. Carbonic anhydrase activity of perfused liver homogenates and disrupted, isolated mitochondria was measured by the mass spectrometric 18O decay technique at 37 degrees C. The contributions of the different isozymes were determined based on intracellular location and sensitivity to acetazolamide inhibition. Diabetes resulted in a twofold increase in the activity of CA V but a halving in the activity of CA III. This is the first time that liver CA V has been shown to be altered by physiological stress. The total carbonic anhydrase activity in the diabetic rat liver was unaltered compared with control rats; however, CA III never accounted for more than 50% of this activity. Since CA isozymes I, II, and IV together account for 30% of the CA activity in control rats and 70% in diabetic rats it is concluded that one or more of these isozymes is subject to regulation in the diabetic male rat. The increase in CA V during diabetes is in accord with this isozyme having an important function in provision of substrate for hepatic gluconeogenesis and ureagenesis.

Mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase is involved in rat renal glucose synthesis.

At 37 degrees C, pH 7.4, carbonic anhydrase activity (kenz) of disrupted rat renal proximal tubules and cortical mitochondria was 2.5 +/- 0.8 (n = 3) and 0.15 +/- 0.40 (n = 3) ml.mg-1.s-1, respectively. Turnover number for renal mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase (CA V) was 24,000 s-1. CA V activity of intact mitochondria was completely inhibited by 0.15 microM ethoxzolamide (EZ). Intact proximal tubules, prepared from 48-h starved male rats, were incubated at 37 degrees C in 10 mM pyruvate in Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate saline buffer, 5% CO2-95% O2. The rate of glucose synthesis over 60 min was reduced 50% by including 0.6 microM EZ in the incubation solution. The concentration of NaHCO3 was doubled to 50 mM (with a corresponding decrease in NaCl) and the solution gassed with 10% CO2-90% O2; 2.4 microM EZ no longer decreased glucose synthesis. It was concluded that inhibition of glucose synthesis by EZ was directly a result of inhibiting the carbonic anhydrases. The rate of glucose production was subsequently determined with tubules incubating in a HCO3(-)-free N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethane-sulfonic acid (HEPES) buffer; this rate was decreased 50% by 0.6 microM EZ. These data support the hypotheses that CA V provides HCO3- for pyruvate carboxylase and that CO2 can be provided by tubular metabolism. Intact tubules were incubated in from 5 to 20 mM pyruvate in either 25 or 50 mM HCO3-; in either buffer, the rate of glucose synthesis was similar, increasing with increasing pyruvate concentration. At no pyruvate concentration was there a change in the rate of glucose production when tubules were incubated in 50 mM HCO3- buffer with 1.6 microM EZ. These data also support the hypothesis that CA V provides the HCO3- substrate for pyruvate carboxylation when there is a high rate of intracellular CO2 production and external CO2 is low. It is further concluded that the cytosolic carbonic anhydrase (CA II) and the membrane-bound carbonic anhydrase (CA IV) are not involved in glucose synthesis from pyruvate.

Reassessment of 14CO2 compartmentation and of [14C]formate oxidation in rat liver.

Our previous report (Marsolais, C., Huot, S., David, F., Garneau, M., and Brunengraber, H. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 2604-2607) had concluded that a fraction of [14C]formate oxidation in liver occurs in the mitochondrion. This conclusion was based on the labeling patterns of urea and acetoacetate labeled via 14CO2 generated from [14C]formate and other [14C]substrates. We reassessed our interpretation in experiments conducted in (i) perifused mitochondria and (ii) isolated livers perfused with buffer containing [14C]formate, [14C]gluconolactone, 14CO2, or NaH13CO3, in the absence and presence of acetazolamide, an inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase. Our data show that the cytosolic pools of bicarbonate and CO2 are not in isotopic equilibrium when 14CO2 is generated in the cytosol or is supplied as NaH14CO3. We retract our earlier suggestion of a mitochondrial site of [14C]formate oxidation.

Carbonic anhydrase activity of intact carbonic anhydrase II-deficient human erythrocytes.

Intact erythrocytes from subjects with deficiency of blood carbonic anhydrase (CA) II and from normal subjects were assayed for enzyme activity by use of an 18O exchange technique in a solution containing 25 mM (CO2 + NaHCO3) plus 125 mM NaCl. At 25 degrees C and pH 7.4, the catalyzed reaction velocity was 0.32 +/- 0.04 M/s for the CA II-deficient and 1.60 +/- 0.12 M/s for the normal cells, a ratio of 1:5. Under the same conditions at 37 degrees C the relative difference between the CA II-deficient and normal cells was much less: the velocity for the CA II-deficient cells was 0.84 +/- 0.07 M/s and for the normal cells 1.60 +/- 0.32 M/s, a ratio of 1:1.9. Results were comparable for the hemolysates with the NaHCO3 reduced to 85 mM (the corresponding intracellular concentration): at 25 degrees C CA II-deficient cells had a velocity of 0.36 +/- 0.01 M/s compared with 1.12 +/- 0.04 M/s for the normal cells, a ratio of 1:3.1. At 37 degrees C again the relative difference between hemolysates from CA II normal and deficient cells was much less: the CA II-deficient cells had a reaction velocity of 1.17 +/- 0.22 M/s vs. 2.60 +/- 0.36 M/s for the normal cells, a ratio of 1:2.2. The greater fractional reduction of enzyme velocity of CA II-deficient cells at 25 degrees C compared with 37 degrees C appears to be explained by a greater chloride inhibition of the presumed CA I at the lower temperature.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Rat kidney mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase.

Mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase has previously been quantitated in liver mitochondria; it was not detected in guinea pig kidney cortical mitochondria. Evidence of this enzyme in rat kidney cortical mitochondria is reported. Electron microscopy showed that intact mitochondria were free of other intracellular organelles. When intact kidney mitochondria were added to isotonic 3'-(N'-morpholino) propanesulfonic acid buffer with 25 mM KHCO3 (1% labeled with 18O) the rate of disappearance of C18O16O was biphasic; this indicates that there is carbonic anhydrase within the inner mitochondrial membrane. Intact rat kidney mitochondria were assayed for carbonic anhydrase activity at 4 degrees C by the changing pH technique. The rate of CO2 hydration in the presence and absence of intact mitochondria was identical; this rate increased when Triton X-100 was added which indicates that all carbonic anhydrase is inside the inner mitochondrial membrane. Carbonic anhydrase activity was quantitated as kenz (units, ml.s-1 mg-1 mitochondrial protein) at 37 degrees C, pH 7.4, in 25 mM NaHCO3 (1% labeled with 18O) by following the rate of disappearance of C18O16O from solutions before and after addition of disrupted mitochondria. Values of Kenz for liver and kidney mitochondria from rats given free access to normal rat chow and water at neutral pH were 0.06 and 0.08 (respectively). Values of kenz for liver and kidney mitochondria from rats fed as above and with free access to water adjusted to pH 2.5 with HCl were 0.04 and 0.16, respectively. Values of kenz for rats starved for 48 h were 0.06 and 0.12 (respectively). The values of kenz remained 0.11-0.14 in liver mitochondria from guinea pigs fed normally, given dilute acid, or starved and the value was always at zero in guinea pig kidney mitochondria. Values of Kenz were measured with disrupted mitochondria by the 18O technique as a function of pH at 25 degrees C, 25 to 75 mM NaHCO3, ionic strength 0.3. From pH 7.0 to 8.0 kenz increased threefold for mitochondria from rat liver, fed rat kidney, and acid rat kidney, and increased eightfold for mitochondria from guinea pig liver. kenz was decreased similarly by increasing HCO3- in mitochondria from rat liver, fed kidney, and acid kidney; it is concluded that carbonic anhydrase in rat liver mitochondria is probably the same isozyme as in rat kidney mitochondria. The published observation that rat kidney cortices are up to 10 times as gluconeogenic from pyruvate as guinea pig kidney cortices can be explained by the presence of mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase in rat but not guinea pig mitochondria.