Effect of citrate on the different reactions catalyzed by rat mammary gland acetyl CoA carboxylase

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain defective in acetyl-CoA carboxylase arrests at the G2/M phase of the cell cycle

To elucidate the essential functions of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC1FAS3) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a temperature-sensitive mutant (acc1(ts)) was constructed. When the acc1(ts) cells were synchronized in G(1) phase with alpha-factor at the permissive temperature of 24 degrees C and then released from the blockade and incubated at the restrictive temperature of 37 degrees C, 95% of the cell population became arrested at the G(2)M phase of the cell cycle despite the presence of fatty acids (C(14)-C(26)) in the medium. These cells developed large undivided nuclei, and the spindles of the arrested mutant cells were short. Shifting the G(2) arrested cells back to the permissive temperature resulted in a reversal of the cell-cycle arrest, with cells initiating mitosis. However, after 3 h of incubation at 37 degrees C, G(2) arrested mutant cells lost viability and displayed a uniquely altered nuclear envelope. Using [1-(14)C]acetate as a precursor for fatty acids synthesis, we identified the phospholipids and sphingolipids derived from acc1(ts) cells and wild-type cells at 24 degrees C and 37 degrees C, respectively. The levels of inositol-ceramides [IPC, MIPC, and M(IP)(2)C] and very long-chain fatty acids C(24) and C(26) declined sharply in the G(2)M arrested cells because of ACC inactivation. Shifting the acc1(ts) cells to 24 degrees C after 2 h of incubation at 37 degrees C resulted in reactivation of the ACC and elevation of the ceramides and very long-chain fatty acid syntheses with normal cell-cycle progression. In contrast, synthesis of wild-type inositol-ceramides, C(24) and C(26), fatty acids were elevated on incubation at 37 degrees C and declined when the cells shifted to the permissive temperature of 24 degrees C.

Inhibitory effects of sulfhydryl reagents on acetyl-CoA carboxylase from rat mammary gland

Rat mammary gland acetyl-CoA carboxylase (acetyl-CoA:carbon dioxide ligase (ADP forming), EC 6.4.1.2) is rapidly and irreversibly inactivated by micromolar concentrations of S-(4-bromo-2,3-dioxobutyl)-CoA (BDB-CoA) or p-hydroxymercuribenzoate (PHMB). Inhibition of both half reactions (i.e., the biotin carboxylation and the carboxyltransferase) catalyzed by acetyl-CoA carboxylase closely parallels loss in overall activity (malonyl-CoA synthesis). The presence of a substrate or product (acetyl-CoA, ATP, ADP, Pi) or inhibitor (palmitoyl-CoA) does not protect the enzyme from inhibition caused by BDB-CoA or PHMB. On the other hand, citrate, an activator of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, affords substantial protection against inhibition by BDB-CoA and PHMB. Covalent modification by BDB-CoA or PHMB appears to lock acetyl-CoA carboxylase in an inactive conformation (15-30 S) that is unable to undergo citrate-induced self-association into the catalytically competent polymeric form.