Glucose and acetate metabolism by isolated sheep wool follicles

Abstract

The metabolism of acetate-C 14 and glucose-C 14 by sheep wool follicles was examined by incubating an isolated preparation in Krebs-Ringer phosphate. Follicles were dissected from the surrounding tissues with a minimum of adhering connective tissue. Preliminary studies showed that connective tissue metabolism was considerably lower than that of follicles, and the presence of connective tissue (10%) in the preparation caused only small errors in estimating true follicle metabolism. Follicles actively oxidized both acetate and glucose. The ratio of C 14O 2 produced when acetate-1-C 14 was incubated with follicles to that produced when acetate-2-C 14 was used was 2.9 ± 0.4 (4), which indicated tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates were being used for synthesis of other compounds. The incubation of specifically labeled glucose with follicles, and the isolation of the lactic acid and carbon dioxide produced indicated that the aerobic and anaerobic pathways of glycolysis were operative. It is suggested that the pentose phosphate pathway may be necessary in wool follicles to allow ribose production for RNA and DNA synthesis. The synthetic activity of the TCA cycle may allow production of some of the nonessential amino acid by transamination reactions.