Ultrathin-layer microelectrophoretic determination of lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in corneal and conjunctival epithelium of the cow

Differentiation-dependent increases in lactate dehydrogenase activity and isoenzyme expression in rabbit corneal epithelial cells

Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) activities were studied during corneal epithelial growth and differentiation in cell culture. LDH and G-6-PDH activities increased up to 60 and 150-fold, respectively, when corneal epithelial cells constituted a differentiated four to five layered epithelium; these increases showed a similar time-course to the expression of K3 keratin. Immunostaining experiments showed that in growing colonies, LDH staining is stronger in those cells that are K3 positive; in contrast, in confluent four to five layered epithelia LDH and K3 were located in all cell layers, similar to the pattern found in frozen sections from rabbit central cornea. During growth and differentiation, the LDH isoenzyme set from corneal epithelial cells did not change; and it was different from those observed in cultured conjunctival, esophageal and epidermal cells. The augment in LDH activity was due to a 25-fold increase in the LDH-H mRNA and a 12-fold augment in LDH-M mRNA. A computer-assisted search led to identify AP2 and Sp1 binding sites in the LDH and G-6-PDH promoters, suggesting that their expression might share common regulatory mechanisms with the regulation of the differentiation-linked keratins. It is proposed that LDH may be an early marker of corneal epithelial differentiation, and its isozyme pattern could be distinctive from other epithelial cell lineages.

Some kinetic properties of lactate dehydrogenase activity in cell extracts from a mammalian (ovine) corneal epithelium

The purpose of the following study was to examine the kinetic properties of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in cell extracts of corneal epithelium. The epithelium, from quality- and size-selected ewe corneas, was dispersed in 10 mM Trizma maleate with or without sucrose at pH 7.0 and cell fractions obtained by homogenisation and differential centrifugation for evaluation of LDH at 37 degrees C. Pyruvate-dependent oxidation of NADH was optimal at pH 6.5, while lactate-dependent reduction of NAD was optimal at pH 9.5; the former activity averaged 3 to 3.5 fold higher than the latter. NADPH and NADP were poor cofactors. The apparent Km values for pyruvate and lactate were 99 micromoles and 3.9 millimoles respectively. At pH 6. 5, substrate inhibition was observed with pyruvate in excess of 0.25 mm with 50% activity measured at 1.2 mm. Excess substrate effects were not seen with lactate at pH 9.5, but pyruvate inhibited lactate-dependent reduction of NAD with 50% activity measured at 1.1 mm. Differential centrifugation confirmed that the activity was predominantly localised in the soluble (post mitochondria-lysosome) fraction of the cells.

Inhibition studies on LDH isoenzyme purified from Uromastix testes

An LDH isoenzyme was purified to homogeneity from uromastix testes and its inhibition spectrum towards known LDH isoenzyme inhibitors studied. Platinum compounds inhibited the enzyme in the forward reaction (pyruvate-->lactate) only, n-hexanediol and colchicine showed no inhibition and gossypol acetic acid (GAA) strongly inhibited both the forward and reverse reactions and the reactions were time-dependent. Oxalate caused non-competitive inhibition (Ki app = IC50 = 0.15 mM) of the forward reaction, NADH was more effective in blocking inhibition by GAA than pyruvate. This enzyme was also unable to use ketocaproic acid as a substrate.

Analysis of enzyme reactions in situ

Estimations of metabolic rates in cells and tissues and their regulation on the basis of kinetic properties of enzymes in diluted solutions may not be applicable to intact living cells or tissues. Enzymes often behave differently in living cells because of the high cellular protein content that can lead to homologous and heterologous associations of protein molecules. These associations often change the kinetics of enzymes as part of post-translational regulation mechanisms. An overview is given of these interactions between enzyme molecules or between enzyme molecules and structural elements in the cell, such as the cytoskeleton. Biochemical and histochemical methods are discussed that have been developed for in vivo and in situ analyses of enzyme reactions, particularly for the study of effects of molecular interactions. Quantitative (histochemical) analysis of local enzyme reactions or fluxes of metabolites has become increasingly important. At present, it is possible to calculate local concentrations of substrates in cells or tissue compartments and to express local kinetic parameters in units that are directly comparable with those obtained by biochemical assays of enzymes in suspensions. In situ analysis of the activities of a number of enzymes have revealed variations in their kinetic properties (Km and Vmax) in different tissue compartments. This stresses the importance of in vivo or in situ analyses of cellular metabolism. Finally, histochemical determinations of enzyme activity in parallel with immunohistochemistry for the detection of the total number of enzyme molecules and in situ hybridization of its messenger RNA allow the analysis of regulation mechanisms at all levels between transcription of the gene and post-translational activity modulation.