Kinetics Of Pyruvate Kinase Research Articles

Purification and characterization of skeletal muscle pyruvate kinase from the hibernating ground squirrel, Urocitellus richardsonii: potential regulation by posttranslational modification during torpor.

Ground squirrel torpor during winter hibernation is characterized by numerous physiological and biochemical changes, including alterations to fuel metabolism. During torpor, many tissues switch from carbohydrate to lipid catabolism, often by regulating key enzymes within glycolytic and lipolytic pathways. This study investigates the potential regulation of pyruvate kinase (PK), a key member of the glycolytic pathway, within the skeletal muscle of hibernating ground squirrels. PK was purified from the skeletal muscle of control and torpid Richardson's ground squirrels, and PK kinetics, structural stability, and posttranslational modifications were subsequently assessed. Torpid PK displayed a nearly threefold increase in K m PEP as compared to control PK when assayed at 5°C. ProQ Diamond phosphoprotein staining as well as phospho-specific western blots indicated that torpid PK was significantly more phosphorylated than the euthermic control. PK from the torpid condition was also shown to possess nearly twofold acetyl content as compared to control PK. In conclusion, skeletal muscle PK from the Richardson's ground squirrel may be regulated posttranslationally between the euthermic and torpid states, and this may inhibit PK functioning during torpor in accordance with the decrease in glycolytic rate during dormancy.

Modeling cancer glycolysis under hypoglycemia, and the role played by the differential expression of glycolytic isoforms.

The effect of hypoglycemia on the contents of glycolytic proteins, activities of enzymes/transporters and flux of HeLa and MCF-7 tumor cells was experimentally analyzed and modeled in silico. After 24 h hypoglycemia (2.5 mm initial glucose), significant increases in the protein levels of glucose transporters 1 and 3 (GLUT 1 and 3) (3.4 and 2.1-fold, respectively) and hexokinase I (HKI) (2.3-fold) were observed compared to the hyperglycemic standard cell culture condition (25 mm initial glucose). However, these changes did not bring about a significant increase in the total activities (Vmax ) of GLUT and HK; instead, the affinity of these proteins for glucose increased, which may explain the twofold increased glycolytic flux under hypoglycemia. Thus, an increase in more catalytically efficient isoforms for two of the main controlling steps was sufficient to induce increased flux. Further, a previous kinetic model of tumor glycolysis was updated by including the ratios of GLUT and HK isoforms, modified pyruvate kinase kinetics and an oxidative phosphorylation reaction. The updated model was robust in terms of simulating most of the metabolite levels and fluxes of the cells exposed to various glycemic conditions. Model simulations indicated that the main controlling steps were glycogen degradation > HK > hexosephosphate isomerase under hyper- and normoglycemia, and GLUT > HK > glycogen degradation under hypoglycemia. These predictions were experimentally evaluated: the glycolytic flux of hypoglycemic cells was more sensitive to cytochalasin B (a GLUT inhibitor) than that of hyperglycemic cells. The results indicated that cancer glycolysis should be inhibited at multiple controlling sites, regardless of external glucose levels, to effectively block the pathway. The mathematical models described here have been submitted to the JWS Online Cellular Systems Modelling Database and can be accessed at http://jjj.mib.ac.uk/database/achcar/index.html. [Database section added 21 July 2014 after original online publication].

Further evidence for the reliance of catalysis by rabbit muscle pyruvate kinase upon isomerization of the ternary complex between enzyme and products

Isothermal calorimetry has been used to examine the effect of thermodynamic non-ideality on the kinetics of catalysis by rabbit muscle pyruvate kinase as the result of molecular crowding by inert cosolutes. The investigation, designed to detect substrate-mediated isomerization of pyruvate kinase, has revealed a 15% enhancement of maximal velocity by supplementation of reaction mixtures with 0.1 M proline, glycine or sorbitol. This effect of thermodynamic non-ideality implicates the existence of a substrate-induced conformational change that is governed by a minor volume decrease and a very small isomerization constant; and hence, substantiates earlier inferences that the rate-determining step in pyruvate kinase kinetics is isomerization of the ternary enzyme product complex rather than the release of products.

Influence of inorganic pyrophosphate on the kinetics of muscle pyruvate kinase: a simple nonallosteric feedback model

Potassium pyrophosphate was used instead of ATP as a model ligand for magnesium cation for the study of effector influence on the kinetics of pyruvate kinase muscle isozyme M 1. The pyruvate kinase activation by low concentration of pyrophosphate and inhibition by high concentration of pyrophosphate was considered to be the result of reversible reactions of magnesium cation with pyrophosphate, ADP, ATP, and PEP. The apparent K m and V m or in some cases the pseudo-first order reaction rate constant (instead of K m and V m) of pyruvate kinase at any given pyrophosphate concentration were analysed as a function of concentration of free magnesium cation and its complexes with all ligands present in an assay mixture. The functions of reaction parameters with respect to concentration of magnesium complexes indicate the coexistence in the reaction mixture of simple and mixed complexes of magnesium cation with substrates, pyrophosphate, and an enzyme–substrate complex. The parameters of the simulated reaction for the proposed interactions fit the measured experimental data. A simple model with nonallosteric feedback has been proposed. According to this model, mutual and simultaneous interactions of reaction products with substrates and with an enzyme result in the coexistence of simple and mixed, labile and inert complexes.

Calorimetric demonstration of the potential of molecular crowding to emulate the effect of an allosteric activator on pyruvate kinase kinetics.

A method based on isothermal calorimetry is described for the direct kinetic assay of pyruvate kinase. In agreement with earlier findings based on the standard coupled assay system for this enzyme in the presence of a fixed ADP concentration, the essentially rectangular hyperbolic dependence of initial velocity upon phosphoenolpyruvate concentration is rendered sigmoidal by the allosteric inhibitor phenylalanine. This effect of phenylalanine can be countered by including a high concentration of a space-filling osmolyte such as proline in the reaction mixtures. This investigation thus affords a dramatic example that illustrates the need to consider potential consequences of thermodynamic nonideality on the kinetics of enzyme reactions in crowded molecular environments such as the cell cytoplasm.

Seasonal change and prolonged anoxia affect the kinetic properties of phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase in oysters

The effects of seasonal change, November versus July, and prolonged anoxia (96 h under N2 gas) on the properties of phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase from five tissues (gill, mantle, hepatopancreas, phasic adductor, catch adductor) of the oyster, Crassostrea virginica were investigated. Both enzymes showed tissue-specific and season-specific changes in kinetic properties; for pyruvate kinase this correlated with seasonal differences in enzyme elution patterns on hydroxylapatite chromatography. Kinetic properties of both enzymes in winter were consistent with primarily catabolic roles in glycolysis with responsiveness to cellular energy demands, whereas in summer these enzymes may be more closely regulated with respect to the biosynthetic and gluconeogenic functions of the tissues. Anoxia-induced changes in phosphofructokinase properties were relatively minor but anoxia stimulated changes in pyruvate kinase properties and elution profiles on hydroxylapatite in all tissues except mantle, with much greater effects seen for the enzyme from winter versus summer animals. For example, anoxia-induced changes in pyruvate kinase from winter gill included a fourfold rise in the substrate affinity constant for phosphoenolpyruvate, a sevenfold increase in the concentration of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate needed to activate the enzyme by 50%, and a 50% decrease in the concentration of L-alanine that inhibits activity by 50%. Changes in pyruvate kinase kinetics and hydroxylapatite elution patterns during prolonged anoxia are consistent with covalent modification of pyruvate kinase but contrary to results for many other mollusc species, anoxia exposure appears to induce a dephosphorylation of the enzyme.

A hypothetical model of the influence of inorganic phosphate on the kinetics of pyruvate kinase

This paper presents a simple solution to the problem of approximating the calculated curve of reaction progress to the measured curve which is usually disturbed by initial oscillation of auxiliary lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) reaction. The experiments leading to the determination of the apparent K m for phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and V m were performed. For precise estimation of kinetic parameters ( K m and V m) of the M 1 isozyme of pyruvate kinase (PK), measured by coupling it to LDH reaction, the sequence of Michaelis–Menten for pyruvate kinase and second-order kinetics for lactate dehydrogenase reaction as well as a non-zero initial concentration of lactate was assumed. The functions of apparent K m and V m of pyruvate kinase with respect to phosphate concentration, computed by an analysis of the total reaction progress curves, indicate that the reaction mixture contains an uncompetitive inhibitor of pyruvate kinase, and that the phosphate binds this inhibitor. The proposed simple mathematical model of pyruvate kinase K m and V m increase by inorganic phosphate assumes that the pyridine nucleotides (NAD-derivatives) are kinase inhibitors. An approximate dissociation constant for pyridine nucleotides–phosphate complex and true K m of pyruvate kinase for PEP were estimated. The proposed model fits exactly the entire measured reaction process.

Impact of anoxia and hydrogen sulphide on the metabolism of Arctica islandica L. (Bivalvia)

The effects of environmental anoxia and anoxic sulphide exposure on metabolism are measured in tissues of the clam, Arctica islandica. Under anoxia the total activity of glycogen phosphorylase and the percentage of the enzyme in the active a form are significantly reduced. Alterations in pyruvate kinase kinetics produce slightly increased V max values, strongly increased S 0.5 PEP, slightly increased S 0.5 ADP in the muscular tissues and mantle, and strongly reduced I 50 for alanine (up to 90-fold increased sensitivity). Anoxia also stimulates a reduction of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate levels, an effector of phosphofructokinase, in all tissues tested. These effects are consistent with enzyme modifications induced by phosphorylation to produce a restricted activity. Anoxic sulphide exposure produced similar effects on the glycogenolytic enzyme glycogen phosphorylase (GP), as does anoxia alone. In the course of the experiments, mitochondrial energy metabolism is not affected by sulphide. The accumulation of the anaerobic indicator metabolite succinate is almost identical in adductor and foot under both stresses. The data suggest a similar coordinated metabolic rate control under environmental anoxia and anoxic sulphide exposure, i.e. H 2S has no distinctly different effects on the parameters tested. This study provides evidence that while being burrowed in anoxic sediments, the clams are able to withstand the detrimental effects of sulphide for a substantial period of time.

Water-induced transitions in the K+ requirements for the activity of pyruvate kinase entrapped in reverse micelles.

The activity of pyruvate kinase was studied in reverse micelles formed with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, n-octane, hexanol, and various amounts of water. In systems with 100% water, K+ is an essential activator of pyruvate kinase [Kachmar, J. F., & Boyer, P. D. (1953) J. Biol. Chem. 200, 669-683]; i.e., without and with K+, the activities observed were 0.07 and 300 mumol/(min.mg), respectively. In the micellar system with 3.6% water (v/v), pyruvate kinase exhibited an activity of about 45 mumol/(min.mg), in the absence of K+. The kcat was about 450 times larger than that in 100% water without K+. Km values for ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate differed, but not markedly from those in 100% water with or without K+. The kinetics of pyruvate kinase in reverse micelles were not affected by K+. The activity curve of pyruvate kinase in reverse micelles without K+ in a pH range of 6.0-8.5 was almost superimposable to that of the enzyme in 100% water with K+, and it differed drastically from that in 100% water without K+. The fluorescence emission spectra of pyruvate kinase in 100% water exhibited a blue shift of 3 nm upon the addition of ligands (Mg2+, phosphoenolpyruvate, and K+) that cause a transition of the enzyme to its active state. Without ligands, the entrapment of pyruvate kinase in reverse micelles with 3.0% water produced a blue shift of nearly 2 nm with respect to that of the enzyme in 100% water without ligands. As water was raised to 7.0% (v/v), the maximal emission shifted to longer wavelengths; these changes paralleled the appearance of the K(+)-dependent activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Lack of control of liver gluconeogenesis in cholestatic rats with reduced portal blood flow.

Previous studies indicated a role for ischemia in the metabolic changes induced by cholestasis. Liver pyruvate kinase is a key enzyme for the concurrent control of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. In this experiment the control of pyruvate kinase activity was investigated in cholestatic rats. Pyruvate kinase kinetics changed from a sigmoidal type in sham-operated rats to a hyperbolic type in obstructed rats. The change in the enzymatic kinetics paralleled the reduction in the portal blood flow, which reached 50% of the control value 7 days after obstruction. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (5 mumol/kg body wt) plus theophylline 0.1 mmol/L failed to inactivate the enzyme when injected into the portal veins of rats whose livers were obstructed 7 days before. Both the kinetics changes and the lack of phosphorylation control are compatible with ischemia.

Metabolic actions of glucagon and dexamethasone in liver of the ureogenic teleost Opsanus beta

Injection with pharmacological doses of dexamethasone (5 mg/kg) and/or bovine glucagon (1 mg/kg) exerts pronounced effects on toadfish liver compared with vehicle-treated control fish. Affected parameters include hepatic levels of glycogen and the activities of glutamate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, malate dehydrogenase, and enzymes involved in NADPH generation as well as the kinetics of pyruvate kinase. Activities of tyrosine aminotransferase, however, a prime target for hormonal induction in mammals, remain unchanged in Opsanus. In subsequently isolated toadfish hepatocytes, metabolite concentrations and flux through gluconeogenesis are altered as are in vitro responses to epinephrine and catfish glucagon in previously injected fish. Contrary to existing mammalian models, short-term regulation of urea cycle activity can be ruled out for toadfish, since hormone treatments fail to influence the activity of two ornithine-urea cycle enzymes or the rate of hepatocyte-urea synthesis. Treatment-dependent increases in hepatic glutamine synthetase, the unique feeder enzyme for ammonia “nitrogen” in fish urea cycle, indicate a potentially pivotal role for this enzyme in longer-term regulation of ureogenesis.

Influence of Hormones, Second Messengers and pH on the Expression of Metabolic Responses to Anoxia in a Marine Whelk

ABSTRACT The roles of hormones, second messengers and pH in triggering or potentiating biochemical responses to anaerobiosis were evaluated using in vitro incubations of isolated muscle tissues (foot, radular retractor, ventricle) from the marine whelk Busycon canaliculatum (L.). Incubating tissues in vitro under anoxic conditions stimulated changes in muscle fructose-2,6-bisphosphate levels and pyruvate kinase kinetics (Km values for phosphoenolpyruvate, values for L-alanine) that were virtually equivalent to those that occur in vivo. Additions of hormones (epinephrine, norepinephrine, octopamine, serotonin, glucagon, insulin) or inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis (dexamethasone, aspirin) had no effect on these metabolic responses to anoxia. The second messenger compounds, dibutyryl cyclic AMP and Ca2+ + ionophore A23187 + phorbol myristate acetate, produced isolated and tissue-specific responses in muscles incubated under aerobic conditions, but the magnitude and pattern of these responses differed from those seen in anoxia. Second messengers also had no effect on the development of biochemical responses in anoxic muscles. Tissue pH was artificially altered in order to evaluate the role of pH change (acidification occurs during anoxia in vivo) in the control of metabolic responses to anoxia. In all cases, the changes in the kinetic properties of pyruvate kinase (PK) correlated with the state of oxygenation of the tissue and not with the measured tissue pH value; higher tissue pH did not prevent anoxia-induced phosphorylation of PK and lower tissue pH did not alter the kinetic patterns of the aerobic enzyme. Overall, the study indicates that cells and tissues of the whelk respond individually to anoxia and that coordination of the action of protein kinases during anoxia is not mediated by pH or by common second-messenger mechanisms.

Regulation of liver metabolism by enzyme phosphorylation during mammalian hibernation.

Kinetic properties of regulatory enzymes of glycolysis in liver of the mouse, Zapus hudsonius, were modified during hibernation, the probable mechanism being covalent modification. Liver glycogen phosphorylase activity was strongly depressed during both short (less than 24 h) and long (5-8 days) term hibernation, the mechanism involving a decrease in both the percentage of enzyme in the active a form and the total amount (a + b) of enzyme expressed. Phosphofructokinase showed kinetic changes (a 2.5-fold increase in Ka for fructose-2,6-P2, 4- and 3.7-fold decreases in I50 values for ATP and citrate, compared to euthermic controls) in liver of hibernators indicative of phosphorylation inactivation of the enzyme. Measured levels of fructose-2,6-P2 in liver did not change during hibernation. Changes in pyruvate kinase kinetics in liver from long term hibernators similarly indicated enzyme phosphorylation in the depressed state (Ka for fructose-1,6-P2 increased 4.4-fold, I50 for L-alanine decreased 6.3-fold). Apparent covalent modification of glycolytic enzymes during hibernation may serve two functions: depression of glycolytic activity as part of the general metabolic rate depression of hibernation, or reorganization of fuel use in the hibernating state to limit carbohydrate catabolism and promote gluconeogenesis.

A study of the allosteric kinetics of Phycomyces pyruvate kinase as judged by the effect of l-alanine and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate

The influence of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and l-alanine on the kinetics of pyruvate kinase (ATP: pyruvate O 2-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.40) from Phycomyces blakesleeanus NRRL 1555 (−) was studied at pH 7.5. By addition of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate the sigmoid kinetics with respect to phospho enolpyruvate and Mg 2− were abolished and the velocity curves became hyperbolic. In the presence of l-alanine the positive homotropic cooperativity with respect to phospho enolpyruvate increased with Hill coefficient values close to 4, while the sigmoid kinetics with respect to Mg 2+ became hyperbolic. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate overcomes the inhibition produced by l-alanine, the antagonism between phospho enolpyruvate and l-alanine also being evident. Inhibition has been found at high Mg 2+ concentrations, compatible with the binding of the magnesium ions to an inactive conformational state of the enzyme. The data were analysed on the basis of the two-states concerted-symmetry model of Monod, Wyman and Changeux, and the parameters of the model were calculated. Phospho enolpyruvate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate appeared to show exclusive binding to the active conformational state (R), whereas magnesium ions bind preferentially, by a factor of 45, to the R state. l-Alanine binds more readily to the inactive T state of the enzyme.

The regulatory properties of yeast pyruvate kinase. Effects of NH4+ and K+ concentrations.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied at 25 degrees C and pH 6.2 as a function of the concentrations of ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate, Mg2+ and either NH4+ or K+. The data were analysed by the exponential model for four substrates, obtained by extension of the model described by Ainsworth, Kinderlerer & Gregory [(1983) Biochem. J. 209, 401-411]. On that basis, it was concluded that NH4+ binding is almost non-interactive but leads to the appearance of positive interaction in the velocity response to increase in its concentration because of positive interactions with phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+. The data obtained with K+ lead to the same conclusions and differ only in suggesting that NH4+ is bound more strongly to the enzyme than is K+. Both data sets are used as the basis for a discussion of the substrate interactions of pyruvate kinase and it appears therefrom that the heterotropic interactions accord with what is known of the events that take place at the active site during catalysis. The paper also reports a determination of the dissociation constants for the NH4+ complexes with ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate and an examination of the simultaneous activation of pyruvate kinase by K+ and NH4+ ions.

The regulatory properties of yeast pyruvate kinase. Effect of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in assays at pH 6.2 at 25 degrees C as a function of the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ and the concentration of the effector fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The enzyme was activated by 100 mM-K+ and 32 mM-NH4+ throughout. It was found that an increase in the fructose bisphosphate concentration from 24 microM to 1.2 mM brings about a transition from a sigmoidal to a non-inflected form in the relationships v = f([phosphoenolpyruvate]) and v = f([Mg2+]) together with a large increase in the affinity of these substrates for the enzyme. The binding behaviour of ADP is barely affected by the same change in effector concentration. By contrast, increase in fructose bisphosphate concentration below 24 microM increases the affinity of the enzyme for all its substrates and the sigmoidicity of the corresponding velocity-substrate-concentration relationships. As a result of this change in behaviour it has been found impossible to represent all the data by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme, and it is suggested (supported by comparisons with previous work) that the failure may reflect a secondary action of the effector upon the enzyme.

The regulatory properties of yeast pyruvate kinase. Effect of pH.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied at 25 degrees C as a function of the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ and the effector H+ in the pH range 5-6.6. The enzyme was activated by 100 mM-K+ and 32 mM-NH4+ throughout. It was found that the data could be described by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme. On that basis, it was concluded that the binding of H+ is positively interactive and that the protonated enzyme is catalytically inactive. It was also found that H+ interacts positively with phosphoenolpyruvate but negatively with both ADP and Mg2+.

The regulatory properties of yeast pyruvate kinase.

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in assays at pH 6.2 where the relationships between the initial velocities of the catalysed reaction and the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ are non-hyperbolic. The findings were represented empirically by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme. The analysis shows that ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ display positive homotropic interaction in their binding behaviour with (calculated) Hill slopes at half-saturation equal to 1.06, 2.35 and 3.11 respectively [Ainsworth (1977) J. Theor. Biol. 68, 391-413]. The direct heterotropic interaction between ADP and phosphoenolpyruvate is small and negative, but the overall interaction between these substrates becomes positive when their positive interactions with Mg2+ are taken into account. The heterotropic interactions of the substrates, though smaller in magnitude, are comparable with those revealed by the rabbit muscle enzyme [Ainsworth, Kinderlerer & Gregory (1983) Biochem. J. 209, 401-411], and it is suggested that they have a common origin in charge interactions within the active site.

Analysis of progress curves. Interaction of pyruvate kinase from Escherichia coli with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and calcium ions.

The influence of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and Ca2+ on the kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Escherichia coli K12 was studied (at pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C) by using the pH-stat method for the measurement of the reaction progress as well as initial-rate analysis. The data were analysed on the basis of a concerted model with three conformational states [Markus, Plesser, Boiteux, Hess & Malcovati (1980) Biochem. J. 189, 421-433] by using a novel procedure for a computer-directed treatment of progress curves [Markus & Plesser (1976) Biochem. Soc. Trans. 4, 361-364]. By addition of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate the sigmoid kinetics with respect to phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ is abolished and the activity of the enzyme is described by classical saturation kinetics. This is explained by exclusive binding of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate at an allosteric site of the conformational state that forms the active complex. We observe that Ca2+ is an activator of the enzyme at low Mg2+ and Ca2+ concentrations; otherwise it is an inhibitor. These effects can be understood by assuming that Ca2+ has the same binding properties as Mg2+, although it does not allow a catalytic turnover.

Isolation of parenchymal cell-derived particles from non-parenchymal rat liver cell preparations

Rat liver was perfused with collagenase and the non-parenchymal cells were isolated by means of differential centrifugation. Low magnification microscopical examination indicated that in this non-parenchymal cell fraction less than 1 % are parenchymal cells, whereas the observed pyruvate kinase kinetics indicated that 50% of the total amount of pyruvate kinase in this fraction is of parenchymal cell origin. The non-parenchymal cell fraction was further purified by metrizamide density cushion centrifugation followed by centrifugal elutriation. A fraction that consisted of small particles, diameter < 5 μm, was collected. The pyruvate kinase activity in this fraction showed characteristics of absolute L-type kinetics and further examination of these particles, called blebs, indicated that they were of parenchymal cell origin. Determination of enzyme markers with regard to the different subcellular structures indicated that the blebs, as compared with parenchymal cells, contained lower specific activities of enzyme markers for the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria and especially peroxisomes. Electron micrographs indicated the complete absence of nuclei. It is suggested that the pure isolated blebs form a unique test material to study the involvement of the nucleus and/or peroxisomes in metabolic processes. The identification of these blebs in the non-parenchymal cell preparations might also explain some discrepancies in the literature about the presence of certain metabolic processes in non-parenchymal cells.