Vicky N. Jackson

Lactic Acid Efflux from White Skeletal Muscle Is Catalyzed by the Monocarboxylate Transporter Isoform MCT3

The newly cloned proton-linked monocarboxylate transporter MCT3 was shown by Western blotting and immunofluorescence confocal microscopy to be expressed in all muscle fibers. In contrast, MCT1 is expressed most abundantly in oxidative fibers but is almost totally absent in fast-twitch glycolytic fibers. Thus MCT3 appears to be the major MCT isoform responsible for efflux of glycolytically derived lactic acid from white skeletal muscle. MCT3 is also expressed in several other tissues requiring rapid lactic acid efflux. The expression of both MCT3 and MCT1 was decreased by 40–60% 3 weeks after denervation of rat hind limb muscles, whereas chronic stimulation of the muscles for 7 days increased expression of MCT1 2–3-fold but had no effect on MCT3 expression. The kinetics and substrate and inhibitor specificities of monocarboxylate transport into cell lines expressing only MCT3 or MCT1 have been determined. Differences in the properties of MCT1 and MCT3 are relatively modest, suggesting that the significance of the two isoforms may be related to their regulation rather than their intrinsic properties.

The Kinetics, Substrate, and Inhibitor Specificity of the Monocarboxylate (Lactate) Transporter of Rat Liver Cells Determined Using the Fluorescent Intracellular pH Indicator, 2′,7′-Bis(carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein

The kinetics of transport of L-lactate, pyruvate, ketone bodies, and other monocarboxylates into isolated hepatocytes from starved rats were measured at 25°C using the intracellular pH-sensitive dye, 2′,7′-bis(carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein, to detect the associated proton influx. Transport kinetics were similar, but not identical, to those determined using the same technique for the monocarboxylate transporter (MCT) of Ehrlich Lettré tumor cells (MCT1) (Carpenter, L., and Halestrap, A. P.(1994) Biochem. J. 304, 751-760). K values for L-lactate (4.7 mM), D-lactate (27 mM), D,L-2-hydroxybutyrate (3.3 mM), L-3-hydroxybutyrate (12.7 mM), and acetoacetate (6.1 mM) were very similar in both cell types, whereas in hepatocytes the K values were higher than MCT1 for pyruvate (1.3 mM, cf. 0.72 mM), D-3-hydroxybutyrate (24.7 mM, cf. 10.1 mM), L-2-chloropropionate (1.3 mM, cf. 0.8 mM), 4-hydroxybutyrate (18.1 mM, cf. 7.7 mM), and acetate (5.4 mM, cf. 3.7 mM). In contrast, the hepatocyte carrier had lower K values than MCT1 for glycolate, chloroacetate, dichloroacetate, and 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropionate. Differences in stereoselectivity were also detected; both carriers showed a lower K for L-lactate than D-lactate, while hepatocyte MCT exhibited a lower K for D- than L-2-chloropropionate and for L- than D-3-hydroxybutyrate; this is not the case for MCT1. A range of inhibitors of MCT1, including α-cyanocinnamate derivatives, phloretin, and niflumic acid, inhibited hepatocyte MCT with K0.5 values significantly higher than for tumor cell MCT1, while stilbene disulfonate derivatives and p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate had similar K0.5 values in both cell types. The branched chain ketoacids α-ketoisocaproate and α-ketoisovalerate were also potent inhibitors of hepatocyte MCT with K0.5 values of 270 and 340 μM, respectively. The activation energy of L-lactate transport into hepatocytes was 58 kJ mol, and measured rates of transport at 37°C were considerably greater than those required for maximal rates of gluconeogenesis. The properties of the hepatocyte monocarboxylate transporter are consistent with the presence of a distinct isoform of MCT in liver cells as suggested by the cloning and sequencing of MCT2 from hamster liver (Garcia, C. K., Brown, M. S., Pathak, R. K., and Goldstein, J. L.(1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 1843-1849).

Lactate transport in heart in relation to myocardial ischemia

In this article, the importance of lactic acid transport into and out of heart cells is described and the properties of the monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) responsible are presented. These are monocarboxylate/proton symporters with a broad substrate specificity that includes L-lactate, pyruvate, and the ketone bodies acetate, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate. Although it is unlikely that lactic acid transport constrains heart metabolism under most conditions, it may do so during severe hypoxia or ischemia. The transporter plays a critical role in maintaining intracellular pH because it removes the protons that are produced stoichiometrically with lactate during glycolysis. The kinetics and substrate and inhibitor specificities of the transport process have been determined in cell suspensions using a radiotracer technique and in single cells using a fluorescent measurement of the decrease in intracellular pH that accompanies transport. The results of these experiments suggest the presence of 2 different transporter isoforms in heart cells, at least one of which is different from the cloned MCT1 and MCT2. Immunofluorescence microscopy shows that MCT1 expression is restricted to the intercalated disk region, yet the rate of lactate transport in this region is slower than in the center of the cell, where there is no MCT1. New cDNA sequences with strong homology to MCT1 have been found in human cDNA libraries and Northern blots show that the corresponding mRNA is expressed in rat heart. Expressions of these new MCT isoforms have yet to be demonstrated and their properties and cellular distribution defined.

CDNA CLONING OF MCT1, A MONOCARBOXYLATE TRANSPORTER FROM RAT SKELETAL MUSCLE

PCR was used to amplify the coding region of CHO MCT1 cDNA. This was then used to screen a rat skeletal muscle cDNA library which lead to the isolation of a full length cDNA encoding MCT1 from rat. The cDNA derived amino acid sequence shows 94% and 86% identity to CHO and human MCT1, respectively.

Demonstration of N- and C-terminal domain intramolecular interactions in rat liver carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 that determine its degree of malonyl-CoA sensitivity

We have previously proposed that changes in malonyl-CoA sensitivity of rat L-CPT1 (liver carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1) might occur through modulation of interactions between its cytosolic N- and C-terminal domains. By using a cross-linking strategy based on the trypsin-resistant folded state of L-CPT1, we have now shown the existence of such N-C (N- and C-terminal domain) intramolecular interactions both in wild-type L-CPT1 expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in the native L-CPT1 in fed rat liver mitochondria. These N-C intramolecular interactions were found to be either totally (48-h starvation) or partially abolished (streptozotocin-induced diabetes) in mitochondria isolated from animals in which the enzyme displays decreased malonyl-CoA sensitivity. Moreover, increasing the outer membrane fluidity of fed rat liver mitochondria with benzyl alcohol in vitro, which induced malonyl-CoA desensitization, attenuated the N-C interactions. This indicates that the changes in malonyl-CoA sensitivity of L-CPT1 observed in mitochondria from starved and diabetic rats, previously shown to be associated with altered membrane composition in vivo, are partly due to the disruption of N-C interactions. Finally, we show that mutations in the regulatory regions of the N-terminal domain affect the ability of the N terminus to interact physically with the C-terminal domain, irrespective of whether they increased [S24A (Ser24-->Ala)/Q30A] or abrogated (E3A) malonyl-CoA sensitivity. Moreover, we have identified the region immediately N-terminal to transmembrane domain 1 (residues 40-47) as being involved in the chemical N-C cross-linking. These observations provide the first demonstration by a physico-chemical method that L-CPT1 adopts different conformational states that differ in their degree of proximity between the cytosolic N-terminal and the C-terminal domains, and that this determines its degree of malonyl-CoA sensitivity depending on the physiological state.

The mitochondrial intermembrane loop region of rat carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A is a major determinant of its malonyl-CoA sensitivity

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) 1A adopts a polytopic conformation within the mitochondrial outer membrane, having both the N- and C-terminal segments on the cytosolic aspect of the membrane and a loop region connecting the two transmembrane (TM) segments protruding into the inter membrane space. In this study we demonstrate that the loop exerts major effects on the sensitivity of the enzyme to its inhibitor, malonyl-CoA. Insertion of a 16-residue spacer between the C-terminal part of the loop sequence (i.e. between residues 100 and 101) and TM2 (which is predicted to start at residue 102) increased the sensitivity to malonyl-CoA inhibition of the resultant mutant protein by more than 10-fold. By contrast, the same insertion made between TM1 and the loop had no effects on the kinetic properties of the enzyme, indicating that effects on the catalytic C-terminal segment were specifically induced by loop-TM2 interactions. Enhanced sensitivity was also observed in all mutants in which the native TM2-loop pairing was disrupted either by making chimeras in which the loops and TM2 segments of CPT 1A and CPT 1B were exchanged or by deleting successive 9-residue segments from the loop sequence. The data suggest that the sequence spanning the loop-TM2 boundary determines the disposition of this TM in the membrane so as to alter the conformation of the C-terminal segment and thus affect its interaction with malonyl-CoA.

Alternative Exon Usage in the Single CPT1 Gene of Drosophila Generates Functional Diversity in the Kinetic Properties of the Enzyme DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF ALTERNATIVELY SPLICED VARIANTS IN DROSOPHILA TISSUES

The Drosophila melanogaster genome contains only one CPT1 gene (Jackson, V. N., Cameron, J. M., Zammit, V. A., and Price, N. T. (1999) Biochem. J. 341, 483–489). We have now extended our original observation to all insect genomes that have been sequenced, suggesting that a single CPT1 gene is a universal feature of insect genomes. We hypothesized that insects may be able to generate kinetically distinct variants by alternative splicing of their single CPT1 gene. Analysis of the insect genomes revealed that (a) the single CPT1 gene in each and every insect genome contains two alternative exons and (ii) in all cases, the putative alternative splicing site occurs within a small region corresponding to 21 amino acid residues that are known to be essential for the binding of substrates and of malonyl-CoA in mammalian CPT1A. We performed PCR analyses of mRNA from different Drosophila tissues; both of the anticipated splice variants of CPT1 mRNA were found to be expressed in all of the tissues tested (both in larvae and adults), with the expression level for one of the splice variants being significantly different between flight muscle and the fat body of adult Drosophila. Heterologous expression of the full-length cDNAs corresponding to the two putative variants of Drosophila CPT1 in the yeast Pichia pastoris revealed two important differences between the properties of the two variants: (i) their affinity (K0.5) for one of the substrates, palmitoyl-CoA, differed by 5-fold, and (ii) the sensitivity to inhibition by malonyl-CoA at fixed, higher palmitoyl-CoA concentrations was 2-fold different and associated with different kinetics of inhibition. These data indicate that alternative splicing that specifically affects a structurally crucial region of the protein is an important mechanism through which functional diversity of CPT1 kinetics is generated from the single gene that occurs in insects.