On the assay of acetyl-CoA synthetase activity in chloroplasts and leaf extracts.

Acetyl-CoA synthetase activity in vitro is assayed quickly and conveniently by incubating whole chloroplasts, chloroplast extracts, or leaf extracts with labeled acetate, CoA, ATP, and Mg and transferring aliquots of the reaction mixture to pieces of either Whatman No. 1 or DE81 filter paper. Unreacted acetate is quantitatively washed from the papers while the acetyl-CoA, which binds quantitatively, is determined by scintillation counting. Enzyme activity is absolutely dependent upon the presence of CoA, ATP, and Mg in reaction mixtures. The reaction has a broad pH optimum around pH 8.5. Potassium is required for maximum activity, and lithium strongly inhibits the reaction. The product retained on the papers was characterized as acetyl-CoA by several methods. On a chlorophyll basis, acetyl-CoA synthetase activities were about 25% higher in leaf homogenates than in intact chloroplasts isolated from similar leaves. Enzyme activities in the optimized assay were three- to fourfold greater than previously reported.

[The protective effect of pantothenic acid derivatives and changes in the system of acetyl CoA metabolism in acute ethanol poisoning]. / Zashchitnyi éffekt proizvodnykh pantotenovoi kisloty i izmeneniia sistemy metabolizma atsetil-KoA pri ostroi intoksikatsii étanolom.

Calcium pantothenate (CaP), calcium 4'-phosphopantothenate (CaPP), pantethine, panthenol, sulfopantetheine and CoA decrease acute toxicity of acetaldehyde in mice. All studied compounds diminish duration of the narcotic action of ethanol--ET (3.5 g/kg intraperitoneally) in mice and rats. In the latter this effect is realized at the expense of "long sleeping" and "middle sleeping" animals. CaP (150 mg/kg subcutaneously) and CaPP (100 mg/kg subcutaneously) prevent hypothermia and a decrease of oxygen consumption in rats induced by ET administration. Combined administration of ET, CaP and CaPP leads to a characteristic increase of acid-soluble CoA fractions in the rat liver and a relative decrease of acetyl CoA synthetase and N-acetyltransferase reactions. The antitoxic effect of preparations of pantothenic acid is not mediated by CoA-dependent reactions of detoxication, but most probably is due to intensification of ET oxidation and perhaps to its elimination from the organism.

Intermediates in fatty acid oxidation.

1. Aqueous extracts of acetone-dried liver and kidney mitochondria, supplemented with NAD(+), CoA and phenazine methosulphate, efficiently convert fatty-acyl-CoA compounds into acetyl-CoA; the process was followed with an O(2) electrode. 2. Label from [1-(14)C]octanoyl-CoA appears in acetyl-CoA more rapidly than that from [8-(14)C]octanoyl-CoA. 3. Oxidation of [8-(14)C]octanoyl-CoA was terminated by addition of neutral ethanolic hydroxylamine and the resulting hydroxamates were separated chromatographically. Hydroxamate derivatives of 3-hydroxyoctanoyl-, hexanoyl-, butyryl- and acetyl-CoA were obtained. 4. These and other observations suggest that oxidation of octanoyl-CoA by extracts involves participation of free intermediates rather than uninterrupted complete degradation of individual molecules to acetyl-CoA by a multienzyme complex. 5. Intact liver mitochondria studied by the hydroxamate technique were also shown to form intermediates during oxidation of labelled octanoates. In addition to octanoylhydroxamate, [8-(14)C]octanoate gave rise to small amounts of hexanoyl-, butyryl- and 3-hydroxyoctanoyl-hydroxamate. In contrast with extracts, however, where the quantity of intermediates found was a significant fraction of the precursors, mitochondria oxidizing octanoate contained much larger quantities of octanoyl-CoA than of any other intermediate.