13C double-quantum filtered correlation spectroscopy (DQF-COSY) provides a novel method for the detection of reactions involving carbon-bond scissions. We report the use of this technique to investigate isotopic exchange reactions of the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in human erythrocytes. These exchange reactions resulted in the formation of a range of isotopic isomers (isotopomers) of glucose 6-phosphate after incubation of a mixture of universally 13C-labelled and unlabelled glucose 6-phosphate with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and haemolysates. These isotopomers were detected in the coupling patterns of cross-peaks within the DQF-COSY spectrum of the deproteinized sample. A computer model which fully describes the reactions of the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in human erythrocytes has previously been constructed and tested with 31P n.m.r. time-course data in our laboratory. This model was refined using 13C n.m.r. time-course data and extended to include the range of isotopomers which may be formed experimentally by the reactions of the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. The isotopomer ratios obtained experimentally from the DQF-COSY spectrum were consistent with simulations generated by this model.
The degree of control exerted by transketolase over metabolite flux in the nonoxidative pentose phosphate pathway in human erythrocytes was investigated using transketolase antiserum to modulate the activity of that enzyme. 31P NMR enabled the simultaneous measurement of the levels of pentose phosphate pathway metabolites following incubation of hemolysates with ribose 5-phosphate. The variations in metabolic flux which occurred as the transketolase activity of hemolysate samples was altered indicated that a high degree of control was exerted by transketolase. Investigations using transaldolase-depleted hemolysates showed that transaldolase exhibits a lesser degree of control over pathway flux. Experimental data were compared with simulations generated by a computer model encompassing the reactions of the classical nonoxidative pentose phosphate pathway. The sensitivity coefficients (also called "control strengths" or "flux-control coefficients") calculated from the computer simulations were 0.74 and 0.03 for transketolase and transaldolase, respectively.
The catalytic core of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III contains three tightly associated subunits~a, E, and u!. The u subunit is the smallest, but the least understood of the three. As a first step in a program aimed at understanding its function, the structure of the u subunit has been determined by triple-resonance multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. Although only a small protein, u was difficult to assign fully because approximately one-third of the protein is unstructured, and some sections of the remaining structured parts undergo intermediate intramolecular exchange. The secondary structure was deduced from the characteristic nuclear Overhauser effect patterns, the 3 J HNa coupling constants and the consensus chemical shift index. The C-terminal third of the protein, which has many charged and hydrophilic amino acid residues, has no well-defined secondary structure and exists in a highly dynamic state. The N-terminal two-thirds has three helical segments~Gln10-Asp19, Glu38-Glu43, and His47-Glu54!, one short extended segment Pro34-Ala37!, and a long loop~Ala20-Glu29!, of which part may undergo intermediate conformational exchange. Solution of the three-dimensional structure by NMR techniques revealed that the helices fold in such a way that the surface of u is bipolar, with one face of the protein containing most of the acidic residues and the other face containing most of the long chain basic residues. Preliminary chemical shift mapping experiments with a domain of the E subunit have identified a loop region~Ala20-Glu29! in u as the site of association with E.
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