CHANGES OF MITOCHONDRIAL GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE AND 6-PHOSPHOGLUCONATE DEHYDROGENASE DURING BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

Improvement of neuronal differentiation by carbon monoxide: Role of pentose phosphate pathway

Over the last decades, the silent-killer carbon monoxide (CO) has been shown to also be an endogenous cytoprotective molecule able to inhibit cell death and modulate mitochondrial metabolism. Neuronal metabolism is mostly oxidative and neurons also use glucose for maintaining their anti-oxidant status by generation of reduced glutathione (GSH) via the pentose-phosphate pathway (PPP). It is established that neuronal differentiation depends on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and signalling, however there is a lack of information about modulation of the PPP during adult neurogenesis. Thus, the main goal of this study was to unravel the role of CO on cell metabolism during neuronal differentiation, particularly by targeting PPP flux and GSH levels as anti-oxidant system. A human neuroblastoma SH-S5Y5 cell line was used, which differentiates into post-mitotic neurons by treatment with retinoic acid (RA), supplemented or not with CO-releasing molecule-A1 (CORM-A1). SH-SY5Y cell differentiation supplemented with CORM-A1 prompted an increase in neuronal yield production. It did, however, not alter glycolytic metabolism, but increased the PPP. In fact, CORM-A1 treatment stimulated (i) mRNA expression of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (PGDH) and transketolase (TKT), which are enzymes for oxidative and non-oxidative phases of the PPP, respectively and (ii) protein expression and activity of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) the rate-limiting enzyme of the PPP. Likewise, whenever G6PD was knocked-down CO-induced improvement on neuronal differentiation was reverted, while pharmacological inhibition of GSH synthesis did not change CO's effect on the improvement of neuronal differentiation. Both results indicate the key role of PPP in CO-modulation of neuronal differentiation. Furthermore, at the end of SH-SY5Y neuronal differentiation process, CORM-A1 supplementation increased the ratio of reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) without alteration of GSH metabolism. These data corroborate with PPP stimulation. In conclusion, CO improves neuronal differentiation of SH-S5Y5 cells by stimulating the PPP and modulating the GSH system.

Characterization of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase isozymes from human and pig brain

Homogenates of human and pig brain in 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0 were centrifuged at 25,400 x g for 1 h. The supernatants were electrophoresed in polyacrylamide gels were stained for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49) activity. Five distinct bands were visible. Isozymes corresponding to two of those bands were purified from human and pig brain. The isozymes were electrophoretically homogeneous. The native proteins, Mr, 220,000, dissociated in sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gels into a 57,000 Mr subunit. Therefore, the native isozymes are tetramers. None of the isozymes required additional metal ions for activity. At 1 mM concentration Mg2+ and Ca2+, independently or together, activated the isozymes 1.5-fold. The isozymes were NADP(+)-specific. Kmapp values of the G6PD isozymes were similar for NADP+ (6-8 microM), but different for G6P (56-180 microM). The specific activities of the isozymes varied from 50 to 210 units per mg of protein. All isozymes were inhibited by NADPH. The inhibition was competitive with respect to NADP+ and non-competitive with respect to G6P. NADH did not affect any of the isozymes. ATP inhibited the isozymes competitively with respect to G6P and non-competitively with respect to NADP+. Palmitoyl-CoA dissociated the active tetramers into enzymatically inactive dimeric forms. This treatment also abolished the 6-phosphogluconate activity of the isozyme II from both sources. High performance liquid chromatography peptide maps of the tryptic digest and amino acid analyses of the isozymes showed extensive homologies between the corresponding isozymes from the two species. Interestingly, only the isozyme II in human and pig brain was active with 6-phosphogluconate as a substrate (Kmapp = 864 and 279 microM). The specific activities of the isozyme II with 6-phosphogluconate (14 and 48 unit per mg of protein for human and pig brain isozyme II, respectively) was four times less than those with G6P. It is therefore suggested that isozyme II is a bifunctional enzyme.

Aspects of carbohydrate metabolism in developing brain

This review considers carbohydrate metabolism in the developing brain, in particular the proportion of glucose metabolized via the pentose phosphate pathway. Although small in amount, this fraction serves a vital rôle in some aspects of brain function. Evidence is presented that the pentose phosphate pathway subserves different functions as the developing brain progresses through the stages of growth and myelination to full neurological competence. The general aspects considered are the changing patterns of brain enzymes during development; the flux of glucose through the alternative pathways of glucose metabolism in the developing brain; the functional significance of the pentose phosphate pathway; and the regional and functional association of the pentose phosphate pathway activity and the detoxication of biogenic amínes.

Biochemical differentiation in reaggregating brain cell culture

Dissociated cells from embryonic mouse brain reassociate in rotation culture to form aggregates. During cell culture the specific activities of choline acetyl-transferase (EC 2.3.1.6), acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7), and glutamate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.15) in the aggregates increase up to twenty-fold, a phenomenon that approximates some of the biochemical events in the development of the mouse brain.