Localization of malate dehydrogenase, adenylate kinase and glycolytic enzymes in glycosomes and the threonine pathway in the mitochondrion of cultured procyclic trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma brucei

Abstract

Procyclic culture forms of Trypanosoma brucei stock 427 have been screened for the presence of enzymes involved in glycolysis, mitochondrial energy metabolism and threonine degradation. The enzyme activities in the procyclics were compared with those of the bloodstream forms. The specific activities of glycolytic enzymes represented 30–70% of the respective levels in the bloodstream form, except for hexokinase which was 25-fold reduced. Cell fractionation showed that the enzymes involved in the early sequence of the glycolytic pathway, i.e. from hexokinase to phosphoglycerate kinase, and the enzymes NAD +-linked glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and glycerol kinase were all present in glycosomes equilibrating at a density of 1.23 g/cm 3 in sucrose gradients. Malate dehydrogenase was 8-fold more active in procyclics than in bloodstream forms. This increase in activity was the result of the appearance of malate dehydrogenase in the glycosomes of the procyclics, in addition to mitochondrial and cell-sap activities which were present in both stages of the life cycle. Glycosomes contained part of the adenylate kinase activity, which was also associated with the mitochondrion. Succinate dehydrogenase and sn-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, together with oligomycin-sensitive ATPase, were located in the mitochondrion which had a density in sucrose ranging from 1.16 to 1.18 g/cm 3. This organelle also contained L-threonine 3-dehydrogenase and carnitine acetyltransferase, two enzymes involved in threonine catabolism. The latter two enzymes had activities which were, respectively, 15-and 13-fold higher in the procyclics than in the bloodstream form. Mitochondrial sn-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was decreased 4-fold.