Substrate-dependent utilization of the glycerol 3-phosphate or malate/aspartate redox shuttles by Ehrlich ascites cells

The rate of transfer of reducing equivalents from cytoplasm to mitochondria has been examined in Ehrlich ascites tumour cells incubated in the presence of lactate. The flux of reducing equivalents was determined from the rate of metabolism of reduced intermediates that are oxidized within the cytosol. The magnitude of the flux of reducing equivalents was dependent on both the concentration of added lactate and the presence of carbohydrate. The rate of flux was twice as great in the presence of glucose and four times as high when glucose and lactate were added together as when lactate was the only added substrate. Fructose was less effective than glucose in stimulating reducing equivalent flux. In the presence of glucose or fructose, there was a substantial accumulation of hexose phosphates, dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glycerol 3-phosphate. Rotenone, an inhibitor of NADH dehydrogenase, and amino-oxyacetate, which inhibits the malate/aspartate shuttle, were powerful suppressors of reducing equivalent flux from lactate as sole substrate, but were much less potent in the presence of carbohydrate. Antimycin substantially inhibited reducing equivalent flux from all combinations of added substrates, consistent with its ability to block oxidation of reducing equivalents transferred by both the malate/aspartate and glycerol 3-phosphate shuttles. The glycerol 3-phosphate shuttle represents around 80% of the maximum total observed activity but is active only while glycolytic intermediates are present to provide the necessary substrates of the shuttle. This Ehrlich ascites cell line has an essentially similar total reducing equivalent shuttle capacity to that of isolated hepatocytes.