Enzymatic Regulation of Glycolysis and Gluconeogenesis in Rabbit Periodontal Ligament under Various Physiological pH Conditions

抄録

Optimal concentrations of the essential components for analyzing the activity of each enzyme associated with glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in rabbit periodontal ligament were examined, and enzyme assay systems for 15 enzymes including 22 reactions were established using triethanolamine buffer. Specific activities of all the enzymes, except for the gluconeogenic reaction of phosphoglycerate kinase, were systematically evaluated using the optimum buffer for each enzyme, since the activity of each enzyme varied depending on the buffer used. For glycolysis, the activity levels of hexokinase and 6-phosphofructokinase were very low, and consequently these enzyme reactions were inferred to be the rate-limiting steps. For gluconeogenesis, fructose 1, 6-bisphosphatase and aldolase activities were extremely low, and the activities of glucose 6-phosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and pyruvate carboxylase were undetectable. These results suggest that the periodontal ligament may have no gluconeogenesis capability. With a rise in pH, the activities of the key enzymes of glycolysis gradually increased, and a specific “crossover” point was found between the activities of glyceraldehyde-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglyceromutase. In addition, the activity of fructose 1, 6-bisphosphatase, one of the key enzymes of gluconeogenesis, was markedly increased with a rise in pH, although pH changes had no effect on aldolase activity. Consequently, alkaline pH appeared to result in overall stimulation of glycolysis.