Gluconeogenesis Mitochondria

The main source of GTP fot phosphoenolpytuvate catboxykinase inside the mitochondrion is the teaction of succinyl-CoA synthetase (Chaptet 16). This provides a hnk and hmit between cittic acid cycle activity and the extent of withdtawal of oxaloacetate fot gluconeogenesis. 

There is a logic to the route of these reactions through the mitochondrion. The [NADH]/[NAD+] ratio in the cytosol is 8 X 10 4, about 105 times lower than in mitochondria. Because cytosolic NADH is consumed in gluconeogenesis (in the conversion of 1,3-bisphos-... 

FIGURE 14-19 Alternative paths from pyruvate to phospho-enolpyruvate. The path that predominates depends on the glucogenic precursor (lactate or pyruvate). The path on the right predominates when lactate is the precursor, because cytosolic NADH is generated in the lactate dehydrogenase reaction and does not have to be shuttled out of the mitochondrion (see text). The relative importance of the two pathways depends on the availability of lactate and the cytosolic requirements for NADH by gluconeogenesis. 

Oxaloacetate, the product of the first step in gluconeogenesis, must leave the mitochondrion and enter the cytosol where the subsequent enzyme steps take place. Since the inner mitochondrial membrane is impermeable to oxaloacetate, it is converted to malate by mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase. This leaves the mitochondrion and is converted back to oxaloacetate in the cytosol by cytoplasmic malate dehydrogenase. 

Pyruvate carboxylase is a mitochondrial matrix enzyme whereas the other enzymes of gluconeogenesis are located outside the mitochondrion. Thus oxaloacetate, produced by pyruvate carboxylase, needs to exit the mitochondrion. However the inner mitochondrial membrane is not permeable to this compound. Thus oxaloacetate is converted to malate inside the mitochondrion... 

Step A, the conversion of pyruvate to phosphoenolpyruvate, is accomplished by a circuitous process commencing with pyruvate entering the mitochondrion, which for gluconeogenesis to occur must be in a high-energy state. Under these conditions, the mitochondrial enzyme pyruvate carboxylase catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to oxaloacetate-. 

Pyruvate carboxylase is a mitochondrial enzyme, vhereas the other enzymes of gluconeogenesis are cytoplasmic. Oxaloacetate, the product of the pyruvate carboxylase reaction, is reduced to malate inside the mitochondrion for transport to the cytosol. The reduction is accomplished by an NADH-linked malate dehydrogenase. When malate has been transported across the mitochondrial membrane, it is reoxidized to oxaloacetate by an NAD+-linked malate dehydrogenase in the cytosol (Figure 16.28). 

Figure 16.28. Compartmental Cooperation. Oxaloacetate utilized in the cytosol for gluconeogenesis is formed in the mitochondrial matrix by carboxylation of pyruvate. Oxaloacetate leaves the mitochondrion by a specific transport system (not shovm) in the form of malate, -which is reoxidized to oxaloacetate in the cytosol.

Pyruvate carboxylase is a mitochondrial enzyme, whereas the other enzymes of gluconeogenesis are present primarily in the cytoplasm. Oxaloacetate, the product of the pyruvate carboxylase reaction, must thus be transported to the cytoplasm to complete the pathway. Oxaloacetate is transported from a mitochondrion in the form of malate oxaloacetate is reduced to malate inside the mitochondrion by an NADH-linked malate dehydrogenase. After malate has been transported across the mitochondrial membrane, it is reoxidized to oxaloacetate by an NAD -linked malate dehydrogenase in the cytoplasm (Figure 16.26). The formation of oxaloacetate from malate also provides NADH for use in subsequent steps in gluconeogenesis. Finally, oxaloacetate is simultaneously decarboxylated and phospho-ry lated by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxy kinase to generate phosphoenol pyruvate. The phosphoryl donor is GTP. The GO2 that was added to pyruvate by pyruvate carboxylase comes off in this step. 

E. Gluconeogenesis requires ATP, which is in short supply, turning up the catabolism of glucose to lactate in the absence of an intact electron transport chain. ADP cannot be transported into the mitochondrion because ATP, its antiporter partner, isn t made by oxidative phosphorylation as a result of cyanide inhibition of cytochrome oxidase. Metabolism of fatty acids and ketone bodies requires a functional electron transport chain for their metabolism, and these possibilities are also ruled out. 

Figure 21-1. Interconversion of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and pymvate. The conversion of PEP to pyruvate is thermodynamically irreversible in the cell. To convert pyruvate back to PEP for gluconeogenesis, pyruvate must enter the mitochondrion, be carboxylated to oxaloacetate (OAA), and reduced to malate. After exiting the mitochondrion, malate is oxidized back to OAA and converted to PEP by the action of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase.

Synthesis of the porphyrin involves the integration between the mitochondrion and cytosol, as in a number of metabolic processes previously examined such as urea synthesis, gluconeogenesis, and some amino-acid catabolism. The first step is mitochondrial, where glycine and succinyl CoA combine, catalyzed by the pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme, amino levulinate synthase (Fig. 20.10). 

Fig. 31.5. Conversion of pyruvate to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP). Follow the shaded circled numbers on the diagram, starting with the precursors alanine and lactate. The first step is the conversion of alanine and lactate to pyruvate. Pyruvate then enters the mitochondria and is converted to OAA (circle 2) by pyruvate carboxylase. Pyruvate dehydrogenase has been inactivated by both the NADH and acetyl-CoA generated from fatty acid oxidation, which allows oxaloacetate production for gluconeogenesis. The oxaloacetate formed in the mitochondria is converted to either malate or aspartate to enter the cytoplasm via the malate/aspartate shuttle. Once in the cytoplasm the malate or aspartate is converted back into oxaloacetate (circle 3), and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase will convert it to PEP (circle 4). The white circled numbers are alternate routes for exit of carbon from the mitochondrion using the malate/aspartate shuttle. OAA = oxaloacetate FA = fatty acid TG = triacylglycerol.

FIGURE 19.12 Transfer of the starting materials of gluconeogenesis from the mitochondrion to the cytosol. Note that phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) can be transferred from the mitochondrion to the cytosol, as can malate. Oxaloacetate is not transported across the mitochondrial membrane. 

Pyruvate is converted to phosphoenolpyruvate for glucose synthesis by a two-step reaction, with the intermediate formation of oxaloacetate. As shown in Figure 5.31, pyruvate is carboxylated to oxaloacetate in an ATP-dependent reaction in which the vitamin biotin (section 11.12) is the coenzyme. This reaction can also be used to replenish oxaloacetate in the citric acid cycle when intermediates have been withdrawn for use in other pathways, and is involved in the return of oxaloacetate from the cytosol to the mitochondrion in fatty acid synthesis — see Figure 5.26. Oxaloacetate then undergoes a phosphorylation reaction, in which it also loses carbon dioxide, to form phosphoenolpyruvate. The phosphate donor for this reaction is GTP as discussed in section 5.4.4, this provides regulation over the use of oxaloacetate for gluconeogenesis if citric acid cycle activity would be impaired. 

Pyruvate dehydrogenase is inhibited in response to increased acetyl CoA, and also an increase in the NADH/NAD ratio in the mitochondrion. The concentration of acetyl CoA will be high when (3-oxidation of fatty acids is occurring, and there is no need to utilize pyruvate as a metabolic fuel. Similarly, the NADH/NAD ratio will be high when there is an adequate amount of metabolic fuel being oxidized in the mitochondrion, so that again pyruvate is not required as a source of acetyl CoA. Under these conditions pyruvate will mainly be carboxylated to oxaloacetate for gluconeogenesis (section 5.7). 

Unlike glycolysis, which occurs strictly in the cell cytosol, gluconeogen-esis involves a complex interaction between the mitochondrion and the cytosol. This interaction is necessitated by the irreversibility of the pyruvate kinase reaction, by the relative impermeability of the inner mitochondrial membrane to oxaloacetate, and by the specific mitochondrial location of pyruvate carboxylase. Compartmentation within the cell has led to the distribution of a number of enzymes (aspartate and alanine aminotransferases, and NAD -malate dehydrogenase) in both the mitochondria and the cytosol. In the classical situation represented by the rat, mouse, or hamster hepatocyte, the indirect "translocation" of oxaloacetate—the product of the pyruvate carboxylase reaction—into the cytosol is effected by the concerted action of these enzymes. Within the mitochondria oxaloacetate is converted either to malate or aspartate, or both. Following the exit of these metabolites from the mitochondria, oxaloacetate is regenerated by essentially similar reactions in the cytosol and is subsequently decarboxylated to P-enolpyruvate by P-enol-pyruvate carboxykinase. Thus the presence of a membrane barrier to oxaloacetate leads to the functioning of the malate-aspartate shuttle as an important element in gluconeogenesis. 

---