Abstract
D-Glucose was recently reported to stimulate d-fructose phosphorylation by human B-cell glucokinase. The present study aims at investigating the anomeric specificity of such a positive cooperativity. The alpha-anomer of D-glucose was found to increase much more markedly than beta-D-glucose the phosphorylation of D-fructose by human liver glucokinase. Such an anomeric preference diminished at high concentrations of the D-glucose anomers, i.e. when the effect of the aldohexose upon d-fructose phosphorylation became progressively less marked. A comparison between the effects of the two anomers of D-glucose and those of equilibrated D-glucose upon D-fructose phosphorylation by human liver glucokinase indicated that the results obtained with the equilibrated aldohexose were not significantly different from those expected from the combined effects of each anomers of D-glucose. In isolated rat islets incubated for 60 min at 4 degrees C, alpha-D-glucose (5.6 mm), but not beta-D-glucose (also 5.6 mm), augmented significantly the conversion of D-[U-(14)C]fructose (5.0 mm) to acidic radioactive metabolites. Likewise, in islets prelabeled with (45)Ca and perifused at 37 degrees C, D-fructose (20.0 mm) augmented (45)Ca efflux and provoked a biphasic stimulation of insulin release from islets exposed to alpha-D-glucose (5.6 mm), while inhibiting (45)Ca efflux and causing only a sluggish and modest increase in insulin output from islets exposed to beta-D-glucose (also 5.6 mm). The enhancing action of D-glucose upon D-fructose phosphorylation by glucokinase thus displays an obvious anomeric preference for alpha-D-glucose, and such an anomeric specificity remains operative in intact pancreatic islets.
Highlights
Creatic islets prepared from either Goto-Kakizaki rats or adult rats that had been injected with streptozotocin during the neonatal period, i.e. in two animal models of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus [4, 5]
The experimental conditions used in this study to assess the anomeric specificity of the effect of D-glucose upon the phosphorylation, metabolism, and insulinotropic action of D-fructose were selected to minimize the interconversion of the D-glucose anomers [6]
The metabolic data collected from islets incubated for 60 min at 4 °C are compatible with the view that the anomeric specificity of the enhancing action of D-glucose upon D-fructose phosphorylation, as documented in the experiments conducted in the presence of human liver glucokinase, is operative in intact pancreatic islets
Summary
Creatic islets prepared from either Goto-Kakizaki rats or adult rats that had been injected with streptozotocin during the neonatal period, i.e. in two animal models of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus [4, 5]. The effects of the two anomers of D-glucose upon D-[U-14C]fructose conversion to 14CO2 and 14C-labeled acidic metabolites and upon the cationic and insulin secretory responses to D-fructose were examined in isolated rat pancreatic islets. The experiments were conducted over 10 min of incubation at 25 °C (D-fructose phosphorylation), 60 min of incubation at 4 °C (D-fructose metabolism in islets) or with D-glucose anomers maintained for 90 min or less at 4 °C (perifused islets) to minimize the interconversion of the glucose anomers [6] Under these conditions, the fraction of ␣-D-glucose converted to -D-glucose, expressed relative to the equilibrium value, is close to 5.4 and 9.0% after 60 and 90 min of incubation at 4 °C and to 17.8% after 10 min incubation at 25 °C [6]. The mean value for the fractional conversion of each anomer during the incubation period used for the measurement of biological variables is close to only half of these percentages
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.