J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 262, Issue 5, 2171-2175, 02, 1987
Regulation of adult and fetal myocardial phosphofructokinase. Relief of cooperativity and competition between fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, ATP, and citrate
J Bristow, DM Bier and LG Lange
To clarify the physiological role of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in the
perinatal switching of myocardial fuels from carbohydrate to fatty acids,
the kinetic effects of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate on phosphofructokinase
purified from fetal and adult rat hearts were compared. For both enzymes at
physiological pH and ATP concentrations, 1 microM fructose 2,6-bisphosphate
induced a greater than 10-fold reduction in S0.5 for fructose 6-phosphate
and it completely eliminated subunit cooperativity. Fructose
2,6-bisphosphate may thereby reduce the influence of changes in fructose
6-phosphate concentration on phosphofructokinase activity. Based on
double-reciprocal plots and ATP inhibition studies, adult heart
phosphofructokinase activity is more sensitive to physiological changes in
ATP and citrate concentrations than to changes in fructose 2,6-bisphosphate
concentrations. Fetal heart phosphofructokinase is less sensitive to ATP
concentration above 5 mM and equally sensitive to citrate inhibition. The
fetal enzyme has up to a 15-fold lower affinity for fructose
2,6-bisphosphate, rendering it more sensitive to changes in fructose
2,6-bisphosphate concentration than adult heart phosphofructokinase.
Together, these factors allow greater phosphofructokinase activity in fetal
heart while retaining sensitive metabolic control. In both fetal and adult
heart, fructose 2,6-bisphosphate is primarily permissive: it abolishes
subunit cooperativity and in its presence phosphofructokinase activity is
extraordinarily sensitive to both the energy balance of the cell as
reflected in ATP concentration and the availability of other fuels as
reflected in cytosolic citrate concentration.