Regulatory enzymes of mitochondrial beta-oxidation as targets for treatment of the metabolic syndrome.

Insulin sensitizers like metformin generally act through pathways triggered by adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) controls mitochondrial beta-oxidation and is inhibited by malonyl-CoA, the product of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). The adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase-ACC-CPT1 axis tightly regulates mitochondrial long-chain fatty acid oxidation. Evidence indicates that ACC2, the isoform located in close proximity to CPT1, is the major regulator of CPT1 activity. ACC2 as well as CPT1 are therefore potential targets to treat components of the metabolic syndrome such as obesity and insulin resistance. Reversible inhibitors of the liver isoform of CPT1, developed to prevent ketoacidosis and hyperglycemia, have been found to be associated with side effects like hepatic steatosis. However, stimulation of systemic CPT1 activity may be an attractive means to accelerate peripheral fatty acid oxidation and hence improve insulin sensitivity. Stimulation of CPT1 can be achieved by elimination or inhibition of ACC2 activity and through activating transcription factors like peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and their protein partners. The latter leads to enhanced CPT1 gene expression. Recent developments are discussed, including a recently identified CPT1 isoform, i.e. CPT1C. This protein is highly expressed in the brain and may provide a target for new tools to prevent obesity.

Left ventricular pressure-volume relationships during normal growth and development in the adult rat--studies in 8- and 50-week-old male Wistar rats.

AIMS: Left ventricular (LV) pressure-volume relations provide relatively load-independent indexes of systolic and diastolic LV function, but few data are available on pressure-volume relations during growth and development in the normal adult heart. Furthermore, to quantify intrinsic ventricular function the indexes should be normalized for heart weight. However, in many studies the indexes are reported in absolute terms, or body weight-correction is used as a surrogate for heart weight-correction. METHODS: We determined pressure-volume relations in young (8-week-old, n = 13) and middle-aged (50-week-old, n = 19) male Wistar rats in relation to their heart and body weights. The animals were anaesthetized and a 2F pressure-conductance catheter was introduced into the LV to measure pressure-volume relations. RESULTS: Heart and body weights were significantly higher in the 50-week-old rats, whereas the heart-to-body weight ratio was significantly lower (2.74 +/- 0.32 vs. 4.41 +/- 0.37 mg g(-1), P < 0.001). Intrinsic systolic function, quantified by the slopes of the end-systolic pressure-volume relation (E(ES)), the dP/dt(MAX) vs. end-diastolic volume relation (S-dP), and the preload recruitable stroke work relation (PRSW), normalized for heart weight, was slightly decreased in the 50-week-old rats (S-dP: -6%, P < 0.004; PRSW: -3%, P < 0.06). Heart weight-corrected diastolic indexes were not significant different. The absolute indexes qualitatively showed the same results, but body-weight corrected pressure-volume indexes showed improved systolic function and significantly depressed diastolic function. CONCLUSIONS: Intrinsic systolic function slightly decreases from the juvenile to the middle-aged period in normal male Wistar rats. Furthermore, correction of pressure-volume indexes for body weight is not an adequate surrogate for heart weight-correction in these animals.

Role of ketone bodies in perinatal myocardial energy metabolism.

Metabolic changes at around the time of birth are crucial for life. Here we review the energy utilization in the myocardium, emphasizing ketone body metabolism. Before birth, glucose and lactate are the major energy substrates for the myocardium. Long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) are normally not available as an energy substrate for the fetal heart; however, when LCFA are supplied artificially in near-term fetal lambs, they are readily oxidized. Hence the myocardium has no limitation to its ability to use LCFA before birth. After birth, lactate remains an important energy source for the myocardium, whereas the contribution of glucose to myocardial energy production decreases despite an increase in the supply of glucose. The oxidation of ketone bodies increases after birth in relation to an increase in supply. However, ketone bodies account for only 7% of left ventricular oxygen consumption. The supply and contribution of LCFA to the myocardium increases after birth; the oxidation of LCFA accounts for most of the left ventricular oxygen consumption. Hence the role of ketone bodies in myocardial metabolism is limited. However, there are interesting observations on interference between the uptake of different substrates and the release of ketone bodies, which might have consequences for our interpretation of ketone body utilization.

Molecular enzymology of carnitine transfer and transport.

Carnitine (L-3-hydroxy-4-N-trimethylaminobutyric acid) forms esters with a wide range of acyl groups and functions to transport and excrete these groups. It is found in most cells at millimolar levels after uptake via the sodium-dependent carrier, OCTN2. The acylation state of the mobile carnitine pool is linked to that of the limited and compartmentalised coenzyme A pools by the action of the family of carnitine acyltransferases and the mitochondrial membrane transporter, CACT. The genes and sequences of the carriers and the acyltransferases are reviewed along with mutations that affect activity. After summarising the accepted enzymatic background, recent molecular studies on the carnitine acyltransferases are described to provide a picture of the role and function of these freely reversible enzymes. The kinetic and chemical mechanisms are also discussed in relation to the different inhibitors under study for their potential to control diseases of lipid metabolism.

Genomics of the human carnitine acyltransferase genes.

Five genes in the human genome are known to encode different active forms of related carnitine acyltransferases: CPT1A for liver-type carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, CPT1B for muscle-type carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, CPT2 for carnitine palmitoyltransferase II, CROT for carnitine octanoyltransferase, and CRAT for carnitine acetyltransferase. Only from two of these genes (CPT1B and CPT2) have full genomic structures been described. Data from the human genome sequencing efforts now reveal drafts of the genomic structure of CPT1A and CRAT, the latter not being known from any other mammal. Furthermore, cDNA sequences of human CROT were obtained recently, and database analysis revealed a completed bacterial artificial chromosome sequence that contains the entire CROT gene and several exons of the flanking genes P53TG and PGY3. The genomic location of CROT is at chromosome 7q21.1. There is a putative CPT1-like pseudogene in the carnitine/choline acyltransferase family at chromosome 19. Here we give a brief overview of the functional relations between the different carnitine acyltransferases and some of the common features of their genes. We will highlight the phylogenetics of the human carnitine acyltransferase genes in relation to the fungal genes YAT1 and CAT2, which encode cytosolic and mitochondrial/peroxisomal carnitine acetyltransferases, respectively.

Perinatal changes in myocardial metabolism in lambs.

BACKGROUND: Lactate accounts for a third of myocardial oxygen consumption before and in the first 2 weeks after birth. It is unknown how the remainder of myocardial oxygen is consumed. Glucose is thought to be important before birth, whereas long-chain fatty acids (LC-FA) are the prime substrate for the adult. However, the ability of the myocardium of the newborn to use LC-FA has been doubted. METHODS AND RESULTS: We measured the myocardial metabolism of glucose and LC-FA with [U-(13)C]glucose and [1-(13)C]palmitate in chronically instrumented fetal and newborn lambs. In fetal lambs, myocardial oxidation of glucose was high and that of LC-FA was low. Glucose and LC-FA accounted for 48+/-4% and 2+/-2% of myocardial oxygen consumption, respectively. In newborn lambs, oxidation of glucose decreased, whereas oxidation of LC-FA increased. Glucose and LC-FA accounted for 12+/-3% and 83+/-19% of myocardial oxygen consumption. To test whether near-term fetal lambs could use LC-FA, we increased the supply of LC-FA with a fat infusion. In fetal lambs during fat infusion, the oxidation of LC-FA increased 15-fold. Although the oxidation of LC-FA was still lower than in newborn lambs, the contribution to myocardial oxygen consumption (70+/-13%) was the same as in newborn lambs. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that glucose and lactate account for the majority of myocardial oxygen consumption in fetal lambs, whereas in newborn lambs, LC-FA and lactate account for the majority of myocardial oxygen consumption. Moreover, we showed that the fetal myocardium can use LC-FA as an energy substrate.

Cytological evidence that the C-terminus of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I is on the cytosolic face of the mitochondrial outer membrane.

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) is a key enzyme in the regulation of beta-oxidation. The topology of this enzyme has been difficult to elucidate by biochemical methods. We studied the topology of a fusion protein of muscle-type CPT I (M-CPT I) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) by microscopical means. To validate the use of the fusion protein, designated CPT I-GFP, we checked whether the main characteristics of native CPT I were retained. CPT I-GFP was expressed in HeLa cells after stable transfection. Confocal laser scanning microscopy in living cells revealed an extranuclear punctate distribution of CPT I-GFP, which coincided with a mitochondrial fluorescent marker. Immunogold electron microscopy localized CPT I-GFP almost exclusively to the mitochondrial periphery and showed that the C-terminus of CPT I must be on the cytosolic face of the mitochondrial outer membrane. Western analysis showed a protein that was 6 kDa smaller than predicted, which is consistent with previous results for the native M-CPT I. Mitochondria from CPT I-GFP-expressing cells showed an increased CPT activity that was inhibited by malonyl-CoA and was lost on solubilization with Triton X-100. We conclude that CPT I-GFP adopts the same topology as native CPT I and that its C-terminus is located on the cytosolic face of the mitochondrial outer membrane. The evidence supports a recently proposed model for the domain structure of CPT I based on biochemical evidence.

Rationale for a conditional knockout mouse model to study carnitine palmitoyltransferase I deficiencies.

Several severe congenital cardiomyopathies are known to be associated with deficiencies in long-chain fatty acid transport and oxidation. Our studies are focused on a key enzyme in the regulation of intracellular long-chain fatty acid transport: carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1. Of this enzyme, two isoforms are expressed in the neonatal heart: L-CPT1 (the "liver-type" isoform) and M-CPT1 (the "muscle-type" isoform). It is known from studies in rats that chemical inhibition of both CPT1 isoforms results in hypertrophy of the cardiomyocytes, leading to an increase in heart-weight of up to 25%. With the aid of expressed sequence tag database analyses, cDNA- and genomic sequence information, we analysed the human gene for M-CPT1 in detail, and obtained partial clones of the murine genes for both CPT1 isoforms. We now started the development of a conditional knockout model to analyse and dissect deficiencies in these genes. While of the other mitochondrial components of the carnitine system deficiencies are known, some with severe cardiac consequences, M-CPT1 deficiencies have never been described. This suggests that M-CPT1 deficiency either (1) has not been recognised within the pool of congenital disorders, (2) is detrimental in an early stage of reproduction or embryogenesis, or (3) does not lead to physiological problems, probably due to the existence of a rescue system. If (1) is the case, the phenotypic effects of M-CPT1 deficiency have to be studied in order to generate criteria for clinical decision making and diagnosis. Option (2) demonstrates the necessity to use novel vector systems to create conditional gene disruptions. Hypothesis (3) implies a possible role for L-CPT1, and a knockout model allows a study of the interaction between the genes for L-CPT1 and M-CPT1. Applicable strategies to develop such a model system will be discussed.

Localization and intron usage analysis of the human CPT1B gene for muscle type carnitine palmitoyltransferase I.

We isolated and sequenced cDNA and genomic DNA fragments of the human CPT1B gene, encoding muscle type camitine palmitoyltransferase I. A recombinant P1 phage containing CPT1B was mapped to chromosome 22qter by fluorescent in situ hybridization. This finding supports the concept that 'liver type' and 'muscle type' isoforms of CPT I are encoded by different loci at separate chromosomal positions. Analysis of CPT1B cDNA sequences revealed the presence of an untranslated 5' exon and differential processing of introns 13 and 19. The alternative splicing of intron 13 causes an in-frame deletion leading to a 10 amino acid residues smaller protein. Using different splice acceptor sites, intron 19 is spliced in the majority of cases, but 4 out of 14 sequenced CPT1B 3' cDNA clones contain part of intron 19 in stead of exon 20. We found that differential polyadenylation is the mechanism behind the existence of these alternative 3' CPT1B mRNA forms.

A putative beta-glucanase pseudogene behind the potato GBSS gene.

We identified an open reading frame (ORF) which is located closely behind the gene encoding granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS) of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). The ORF ends with a perfect 43 bp direct repeat, which carries the stop triplet precisely at the beginning of the second repeat. The deduced protein shows homology with all known isoforms of plant beta-1,3-glucanases and beta-1,3-1,4-glucanases. Although the DNA sequence is unique in potato and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.), no expression of the gene was found in these species. Taken together with the unusual codon usage and length of the predicted protein, this sequence could be a pseudogene.

Sequence of the structural gene for granule-bound starch synthase of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and evidence for a single point deletion in the amf allele.

The genomic sequence of the potato gene for starch granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS; "waxy protein") has been determined for the wild-type allele of a monoploid genotype from which an amylose-free (amf) mutant was derived, and for the mutant part of the amf allele. Comparison of the wild-type sequence with a cDNA sequence from the literature and a newly isolated cDNA revealed the presence of 13 introns, the first of which is located in the untranslated leader. The promoter contains a G-box-like sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence of the precursor of GBSS shows a high degree of identity with monocot waxy protein sequences in the region corresponding to the mature form of the enzyme. The transit peptide of 77 amino acids, required for routing of the precursor to the plastids, shows much less identity with the transit peptides of the other waxy preproteins, but resembles the hydropathic distributions of these peptides. Alignment of the amino acid sequences of the four mature starch synthases with the Escherichia coli glgA gene product revealed the presence of at least three conserved boxes; there is no homology with previously proposed starch-binding domains of other enzymes involved in starch metabolism. We report the use of chimeric constructs with wild-type and amf sequences to localize, via complementation experiments, the region of the amf allele in which the mutation resides. Direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction products confirmed that the amf mutation is a deletion of a single AT basepair in the region coding for the transit peptide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Complementation of the amylose-free starch mutant of potato (Solanum tuberosum.) by the gene encoding granule-bound starch synthase.

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated introduction of the wild-type allele of the gene encoding granulebound starch synthase (GBSS) into the amylose-free starch mutantamf of potato leads to restoration of GBSS activity and amylose synthesis, which demonstrates thatAmf is the structural gene for GBSS. Amylose was found in columella cells of root tips, in stomatal guard cells, tubers, and pollen, while in the control experiments using only vector DNA, these tissues remained amylose free. This confirms the fact that, in potato, GBSS is the only enzyme responsible for the presence of amylose, accumulating in all starch-containing tissues. Amylose-containing transformants showed no positive correlation between GBSS activity and amylose content, which confirms that the former is not the sole regulating factor in amylose metabolism.

In situ hybridization to somatic metaphase chromosomes of potato.

An in situ hybridization procedure was developed for mitotic potato chromosomes by using a potato 24S rDNA probe. This repetitive sequence hybridized to the nucleolar organizer region (NOR) of chromosome 2 in 95%-100% of the metaphase plates. Another repetitive sequence (P5), isolated from the interdihaploid potato HH578, gave a "ladderpattern" in genomic Southern's of Solanum tuberosum and Solanum phureja, but not in those of Solanum brevidens and two Nicotiana species. This sequence hybridized predominantly on telomeric and centromeric regions of all chromosomes, although chromosomes 7, 8, 10 and 11 were not always labeled clearly.

Determination of beta-aspartylpeptidase activity in human faeces by high-performance liquid chromatography using pre-column derivatization with phenyl isothiocyanate.

Bacterial enzymes are responsible for degradation of beta-aspartyl peptides in the intestinal tract. These peptides, especially the dipeptide beta-aspartylglycine, are useful as indicators of an impaired anaerobic intestinal microflora of antibiotic-treated patients. A method to separate the dipeptides beta-aspartylalanine, beta-aspartylglutamine, beta-aspartylglycine and beta-aspartylserine, using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and precolumn derivatization with phenyl isothiocyanate, was developed. This method was used to determine beta-aspartylpeptidase activity in faecal supernatants of healthy human volunteers and antibiotic-treated patients with beta-aspartylglycine as substrate. This activity was absent in the antibiotic-treated group, while in individuals with an intact intestinal flora it ranged from 16 to 100% degradation per 18 h. In addition, it was found that faecal enzyme preparations cleaved beta-aspartylglycine at a much lower rate than the other beta-aspartyl peptides.