Phosphofructokinase from Dictyostelium discoideum is a potent inhibitor of tubulin polymerization.

We identified the nonallosteric phosphofructokinase from the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum as a potent protein factor that inhibits the rate of polymerization of tubulin at a molar ratio of 1 molecule to about 300 tubulin dimers for half-maximal action (IC50 = 32 nM). This effect was (i) assessed by turbidity measurements, pelleting of microtubules, and electron microscopy, (ii) observed when tubulin assembly was induced by taxol as well as by GTP in the presence of microtubule-associated proteins or glutamate, and (iii) specific as it was not produced by the phosphofructokinase from rabbit muscle. Also in contrast to the latter, neither tubulin nor microtubules modified the catalytic activity of the slime mold isozyme. Immunoelectron microscopy provided further evidence that D. discoideumphosphofructokinase physically interacts with tubulin, leading to the formation of aggregates. The process seems to be reversible since microtubules eventually formed in the presence of the inhibitor with concomitant reduction of tubulin aggregates. Limited proteolysis by subtilisin showed that the hypervariable C-termini of tubulin is not involved in the interaction with the enzyme. The possible physiological relevance of this novel function of D. discoideum phosphofructokinase different from its glycolytic action is discussed.

Mathematical model of beta-cell glucose metabolism and insulin release. I. Glucokinase as glucosensor hypothesis.

To quantitatively test the theory that glucokinase controls the rate of glucose metabolism and therefore the rate of insulin secretion, a minimal mathematical model of glycolysis in the pancreatic beta-cell was developed. The model represents our current hypothesis of how the normal beta-cell transduces the glucose signal. In this report, the model was used to address questions regarding the control strength of transport, hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphatase, and phosphofructokinase in the metabolism of glucose. The hypothesis that fructose 6-phosphate and a protein regulator modulate glucokinase activity was evaluated by simulation analysis, as was the possibility that glucose-6-phosphatase, working in concert with phosphofructokinase, can modulate the glucose-sensing system. It was found that, in the absence of glucose-6-phosphatase, transport, hexokinase, and phosphofructokinase do not greatly influence the rate of glucose metabolism unless their activities are dramatically altered from the measured values. Glucose metabolism was profoundly affected by the activity of glucokinase. However, in the presence of glucose-6-phosphatase, the ratio of glucose-6-phosphatase to phosphofructokinase activities was a very important parameter, and this potential control mechanism deserves more attention. The results further support the notion that glucokinase is indeed the glucosensor of the beta-cell and that modeling the system in toto provides quantitative evaluation needed to interpret the experimental tests of hypotheses.

Interaction of phosphofructokinase with tubulin and microtubules. Quantitative evaluation of the mutual effects.

The linked equilibria involved in the binding of phosphofructokinase (EC 2.7.1.11, ATP:D-fructose-6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase) to tubulin and microtubules were studied at high ionic strength in vitro. The concentration-dependent dissociation of phosphofructokinase was analyzed in the absence and presence of tubulin or microtubules, and the binding of kinase to the tubulin dimer and microtubules was compared. Enzyme activity of phosphofructokinase was inhibited by both tubulin and microtubules: the relative inhibition increased with decreasing enzyme concentration. The complex formation between phosphofructokinase and tubulin was demonstrated by means of fluorescent anisotropy. Concentration-dependent copelleting of the kinase with taxol-stabilized microtubules revealed binding of the enzyme to microtubules as well as phosphofructokinase-enhanced pelleting of microtubules. The binding data agree with the enzyme kinetic findings that the inactive dissociated forms of phosphofructokinase (monomer-dimer) are involved in the heterologous complex formation. Microtubule reorganization (bundle formation) by phosphofructokinase was established by turbidity measurements and sedimentation experiments. The binding data are consistent with a simple molecular model for the interactions in phosphofructokinase-tubulin/microtubules systems.

Diminution of stationary enzyme activities at increases of pyruvate kinase concentration in a reconstituted enzyme system.

In a homogeneous and open enzyme system containing phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, adenylate kinase, and glucose 6-phosphate isomerase the consequences of variations of the enzyme concentrations on the stationary enzyme activities have been investigated. An unexpected behavior was observed upon variation of the maximum activity of pyruvate kinase. Depending on the experimental conditions an increase of the concentration of pyruvate kinase resulted either in a diminution or in a stimulation of the stationary activity of this enzyme. An increase of the maximum activity of phosphofructokinase, however, stimulates both the activities of phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of a mathematical model, based on the kinetic properties of the enzymes involved. The correlation between the observed changes of the activities of phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase and the appearance of multiple stationary states is discussed.

Age and the control of glycolysis in the rat lens.

Previous studies with lens dispersions indicated that the rate-limiting step in glycolysis shifts from hexokinase (HK) in the young lens to phosphofructokinase (PFK) in older lenses. Because the concentrations of the complex controlling factor for these enzymes could not be reproduced reliably in homogenates, the question of age-related control of glycolysis was re-examined in intact lenses. Toward this end, the levels of several metabolites of glucose were measured in fresh and incubated clear lenses. Of the substrates measured per fresh lens, only one changed significantly with age; fructose diphosphate was increased. When lenses were incubated in 2 to 12 mM glucose, the lactate production per lens was not significantly different with age. Together these results suggested that the glycolytic mass of the lens was constant with age. In both young and older lenses, increases in glucose in the medium led to increases in both glucose and glucose-6-phosphate in the lens. The lack of corresponding increase in lactate production suggested that the regulatory step lay downstream from HK, probably at PFK. This finding was corroborated by evidence that the initial acceleration of lactate production by the addition of cyanide (the Pasteur effect) was accompanied by decreases in the substrates of PFK, glucose-6-phosphate and fructose-6-phosphate. A secondary disinhibition of HK, as indicated by decreased lens glucose, became apparent after longer incubation with cyanide. This suggested that after disinhibition of PFK, HK became rate-limiting until the level of glucose-6-phosphate fell enough to allow the disinhibition of the latter enzyme as well. Thus PFK seemed to be the primary regulatory step in aerobic glycolysis in lenses of rats from 1 to 12 months of age.

Involvement of cytosol proteins in oleate activation of rabbit liver fructose-1,6-diphosphatase.

Dialyzed rabbit liver cytosol was specifically freed of endogenous fructose-1,6-diphosphatase by immunoadsorption on a column of Sepharose-immobilized anti-fructose-1,6-diphosphatase. This material increased the specific activity of homogeneous enzyme to the maximal rate observed with EDTA and shifted the pH optimum from 8.4 to 7.4. With oleate or other fatty acids as activators, the hydrolysis of fructose-1,6-diphosphatase by enzyme, at neutral pH, showed nonlinear initial rates dropping to lower linear rates. Cytosol activator acted synergistically with oleate both to increase neutral enzyme activity and to maintain the high initial catalytic rates. After sucrose density centrifugation or gel filtration, the cytosol had no effect by itself, but still potentiated oleate activation. The factor was destroyed by treatment with subtilisin or trypsin, but all attempts to identify a unique protein component in cytosol were unsuccessful. The presence of Na dodecyl-SOJ, deoxycholate, or urea did not improve the resolution of the factor, but these compounds did lower the K50 for activation by cytosol. Since fatty acids are the only unique compounds which have been isolated from cytosol which activated fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, it appears that soluble proteins can act as natural carriers for the fatty acids. This was supported by the fact that both dialyzed rabbit alpha-globulins and muscle phosphofructokinase also acted synergistically with oleate in a manner similar to cytosol. Phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylserine activated fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, and their action was synergistic with oleate. Glutathione (1 mM) activated the enzyme 5-fold at pH 7.3 and its effects were additive with oleate and cytosol or alpha-globulins.

Control of glycolysis in cerebral cortex slices.

1. Intracellular concentrations of intermediates and cofactors of glycolysis were measured in guinea-pig cerebral cortex slices incubated under varying conditions. 2. Comparison of mass-action ratios with apparent equilibrium constants for the reactions of glycolysis showed that hexokinase, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase catalyse reactions generally far from equilibrium, whereas phosphoglucose isomerase, aldolase, phosphoglycerate kinase, phosphoglycerate mutase, enolase, adenlyate kinase and creatine phosphokinase are generally close to equilibrium. The possibility that glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase may catalyse a ;non-equilibrium' reaction is discussed. 3. Correlation of changes in concentrations of substrates for enzymes catalysing ;non-equilibrium' reactions with changes in rates of glycolysis caused by alteration of the conditions of incubation showed that hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase and possibly glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase are subject to metabolic control in cerebral cortex slices. 4. It is suggested that the glycolysis is controlled by two regulatory systems, the hexokinase-phosphofructokinase system and the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase-pyruvate kinase system. These are discussed. 5. It is concluded that the rate of glycolysis in guinea-pig cerebral cortex slices is limited either by the rate of glucose entry into the slices or by the hexokinase-phosphofructokinase system. 6. It is concluded that addition of 0.1mm-ouabain to guinea-pig cerebral cortex slices causes inhibition of either glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase or phosphoglycerate kinase or both, in a manner independent of the known action of ouabain on the sodium- and potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatase.