Reduced pyridine nucleotides and cytochrome b5 as electron donors for prostaglandin synthetase reconstituted in dimyristyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles.

Abstract

Prostaglandin synthetase has been reconstituted in dimyristyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles. These vesicles in either 80 or 2 microM flufenamate utilized NADH or NADPH as electron donor in the reductive peroxidative step of prostaglandin H2 formation. Vesicles containing bound cytochrome b5 reductase and cytochrome b5 in order to complete an NADH cytochrome b5 reductase system also utilized reduced cytochrome b5 as the electron donor for this peroxidative step. In systems containing cytochrome and reductase, the rate of NADH oxidation exceeded that of NADPH oxidation, indicating that reduced cytochrome b5 is an effective electron donor for prostaglandin H2 formation, enhancing both the initial rate and the extent of the reaction. The concentrations of reduced pyridine nucleotides and cytochrome b5 employed in these experiments to provide reductants for prostaglandin synthetase are within the concentration ranges that obtain under physiological conditions.