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Centro de Estudios Científicos, Valdivia, Chile
Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Dr. L. Felipe Barros, Tel: 56-63-234513; E-mail: fbarros{at}cecs.cl.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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This article is concerned with pools of other small molecules that are also deemed to exist in the cytosol, without the benefit of an intervening membrane. For example, the Na+/K+ ATPase, the Ca2+ ATPase, and the H+ ATPase are thought to be fed by glycolysis, whereas mitochondria-bound hexokinase is thought to be fed preferentially by oxidative phosphorylation, ideas that imply the existence in the cytosol of separate pools of glycolytic and mitochondrial ATP (2
10
). Other examples found in the literature are the pools of pyruvate and lactate that have been proposed to exist in the cytosol of brain astrocytes and the various pools that account for functional separation between glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in hepatocytes (11
15
). As none of these metabolite pools has been measured directly, their characteristics remain obscure. Another pool of interest, which has, in fact, been detected with a probe, is the subplasmalemmal ATP microdomain of ß-cells, a putative piece in the machinery of glucose sensing by the pancreas (16
).
Our aim here was to investigate these metabolite compartments, by developing a mathematical model of diffusion in the steady state.
| THEORY |
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![]() | (1) |
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![]() | (2) |
We choose the boundary conditions
![]() | (3) |
![]() | (4) |
a2du/dr|r=a = 4
b2du/dr|r=b is verified by the concentration curve given by Eq. 4, which means that the flux of the particles is conserved. This fact is expected in a steady-state regime.
An observable quantity is the average concentration. Its value is given by
![]() | (5) |
(b3 a3)/3 is the volume enclosed between the two spheres. Replacing Eq. 4 in 5 yields
![]() | (6) |
Another measurable quantity is the flux q (molecules/s) through the outer surface,
![]() | (7) |
Equations 6 and 7 allow expression of the parameters p1 and p2 in terms of the experimental parameters
:
![]() | (8) |
![]() | (9) |
in the cell. We termed this ratio, Amplitude:
![]() | (10) |
![]() | (11) |
To quantify the size of a domain we define the parameter Extension as the value of the radial coordinate at which the concentration is twice the average:
![]() | (12) |
![]() | (13) |
A more general model
In some cases, the sink is not located at the cell surface, but somewhere in between the source and the surface. To account for this possibility we have now dissociated the sink (at r = b) from the cell radius, which will be termed c. Since there is no sink other than at r = b, in the region r
b the concentration must be constant and given by u0 = u(b). Thus the average concentration is
![]() | (14) |
(c3 a3)/3 is the volume enclosed by the two spheres. Replacing Eq. 4 in Eq. 14 yields
![]() | (15) |
![]() | (16) |
![]() | (17) |
For this case, the Extension is given by
![]() | (18) |
![]() | (19) |
| RESULTS |
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A domain can be described by its strength and by its physical extension. As a parameter of strength, we adopted the ratio between metabolite concentration at the source and the average concentration in the compartment, and termed it Amplitude. Theoretically, the value of this parameter may range from 1 in a perfectly homogenous compartment where there is no flux, to a value of infinity for the strongest domain. To describe the size of the domain, an arbitrary parameter termed Extension was defined as the distance between source and the point at which the concentration falls below twice the compartment average. For example, in the hypothetical cell illustrated in Fig. 1 B, average concentration is 0.1 mM and the maximum at the source is 2.7 mM, which gives an Amplitude of 27. The Extension is 25 nm, meaning that a given target located closer than 25 nm from the source will be exposed to a substrate concentration of at least 0.2 mM. If instead of being at the surface, the sink were located inside, the Amplitude of the domain will decrease (see Eqs. 16 and 17), an effect that becomes significant only when the sink is a few nanometers from the source. For the sake of the argument to follow, it can be safely stated that an internal sink will not increase the Amplitude of a domain. The same line of reasoning can be used to argue that an eccentric source will behave very much like a central source, unless the sink is nanometers away. The Extension, however, is much more sensitive to the presence of an internal sink (Eq. 19). In summary, an internal sink makes the domain sharper but in most cases does not affect its strength.
A glycolytic ATP pool?
To investigate glycolytic ATP domains, we considered 3-phosphoglycerate kinase (3-PGK, EC 2.7.2.3)which, with a turnover number of 1000 s1, is the fastest of the two glycolytic enzymes that produce ATP (BRENDA database, University of Cologne, Germany). The diameter of the source was set at 1 nm, approximately the length of an ATP molecule (Fig. 2 A). With this source size, an average ATP concentration of 5 mM and an effective diffusion coefficient of 500 µm2/s in the cytosol (17
), the calculated value of the parameter Amplitude was 1.0001, equivalent to 5.0005 mM. Thus, at the very site of ATP release, the steady-state ATP concentration is only 0.5 µM higher than in the bulk cytosol, meaning that an individual Na+/K+ ATPase, most favorably located at the ATP release site of 3-PGK, would still get 99.99% of its ATP from other sources. At a more realistic distance of 2 nm, which makes some allowance for the large hinge-bending conformational change that characterizes 3-PGK (18
, 19
), the ATP concentration drops to a mere 0.1 µM above average. Pyruvate kinase and the adenylate translocase, the other steady-state sources of ATP in the cell cytosol, have smaller turnover numbers and so they fail by a wider margin (Table 1).
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100 nm diameter. After locating such a sphere in the center of the cell and solving the model, the calculated Amplitude value was 1.034, i.e., the ATP concentration on the surface of the cluster is only 3.4% higher than in the bulk cytosol, which is more than that produced by the single enzyme, but still fails to qualify as a domain. The same conclusion applies to a mitochondrion 200 nm in diameter, with a 1:500 share of the astrocytic ATP turnover of 5.6 x 108 per second, where the Amplitude value is 1.001, a modest 0.1% higher than average. A possible "negative" domain, at the site of the Na+/K+ ATPase, for example, can also be ruled out, for its turnover number is only in the order of 102 s1.
The theoretical conditions that may generate a local ATP domain were further explored using Eq. 10. As illustrated in Fig. 3, for a given source size and cell size, domains will be generated only for extreme values of flux, diffusion coefficient, or average concentration. Out of these three inputs, the only one subject to a degree of uncertainty is the local effective diffusion coefficient. Diffusion may in fact be retarded by tortuosity or by changes in water structure; however, these effects are typically in the order of twofold, well short of the five orders of magnitude that are needed (Fig. 3 B). Incidentally, the requirements for strong ATP domains are met in the extracellular space, where average ATP is low and a single channel can transport ATP at rates in excess of 105 molecules per second (21
). In conclusion, even under the most favorable conditions that are compatible with the known physical constraints, ATP pools will not be appear in the cytosol of a compact cell.
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Ion domains
As a counterexample we modeled domains generated by ion channels. For the L-type Ca2+ channel, the three parameters that determine local gradients are greatly favorable with respect to those for metabolites: flux is three orders-of-magnitude larger, average concentration in the compartment is five orders-of-magnitude lower and diffusion coefficient is one order of magnitude smaller. Their combination amounts to an advantage of nine orders of magnitude with respect to metabolite domains! Thus, a calcium channel has the power to generate a strong spatial domain (Table 1). As calcium is also taken up by intracellular sinks like mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum, a calcium domain may be better described with the general model (Eqs. 1618). For Amplitude, as mentioned above, the results are not significantly different. A sink as close as 50 nm away from the L-type Ca2+ channel decreases Amplitude by only 1%. The Extension, however, is much more sensitive, decreasing from 3.3 µm to 25 nm. Even for a much slower Ca2+ source like the reverse Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, a domain peaking 100 µM is expected (Table 1). According to the analysis, acidic domains should be found near mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase and the Ca2+ ATPase, which release H+ at relatively small rates. For the cytochrome oxidase, the local domain would be further enhanced by restricted diffusion of H+ across the outer mitochondrial membrane. For Na+ the situation is different. Despite the high conductance of sodium channels, which pass 107 ions per second, domains fail to arise because average intracellular sodium is high, as is its diffusion coefficient (Table 1).
| DISCUSSION |
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The model considers an ideal geometry, so the question arises as to whether it might valid for cells that are not spherical. For example, astrocytes have numerous filopodia-like processes, thin prolongations that extend up to 30 µm away from the soma. By considering a one-dimensional model, it can be demonstrated that diffusion along thin structures like filopodia is not critically different from diffusion in a sphere. Although the concentration profile becomes linear instead of curved, which makes domains broader, the Amplitude is not affected. As for a sphere, bringing the sink closer to the source will make the domain sharper and weaker. However, if the processes were much longer, as in neurons, the mixing effect of diffusion will become negligible; if, in addition, the sink is distributed along the processes, strong domains will be generated. A detailed analysis of neuronal domains will be reported elsewhere.
The data obtained for ATP, glucose, pyruvate, lactate, and glutamate demonstrate that domains/pools do not exist in the cytosol of compact cells, such as astrocytes, hepatocytes, epithelial cells, leukocytes, erythrocytes, etc. For these molecules, the cytosol is a well mixed compartment and no target is preferentially fed by a particular source. This does not necessarily imply that the cytosol is homogenous, for local variations in surface potential may affect slightly the local concentration of charged metabolites. However, such heterogeneity would not be source-specific. The main factors that preclude domain formation in the case of metabolites were found to be the slow rate of production by enzymes and transporters and the high rate of diffusion, the latter explained by the combined effects of high average concentrations and high diffusion coefficients. Metabolite domains fail to materialize because many more molecules are likely to arrive to the source from the bulk than from the source itself. The estimations included in Table 1 were based on average concentrations. The impact of possible concentration changes, either physiological or pathological, can be assessed by examining Eq. 11. For strong domains, the Amplitude will change in inverse proportion to concentration. For example, if average H+ concentration is halved, the Amplitude of the domain generated by cytochrome oxidase will double from 90 to 180. In contrast, for weak domains the impact of concentration change is negligible. For example, after halving the ATP concentration, the Amplitude of the domain generated by 3-PGK will barely rise from 1.0001 to 1.0002.
The analysis was validated by its ability to predict the microdomains that have been measured near Ca2+ channels. We have assumed a steady state, which though reasonable for slow metabolic processes, may not be applicable to a channel, where flux is far from constant. In this case the assumption of a steady state will underestimate the strength of a transient domain. It is considered that Ca2+ microdomains are all transient and do not arise in the steady state (1
), but our data suggest that this need not be the case. Standing calcium domains may be instrumental to the regulation of slower physiological processes such as metabolism, cell death, and gene expression (26
). Limiting factors to calcium domains in the steady state would be the extrusion capacity of pumps and carriers and the metabolic capacity of the cell to feed the pumps, which may not be able to match a high open probability channel. Another outcome of the analysis is the prediction that even slow transporters and enzymes may have the ability to build up nanodomains of Ca2+ and H+. This is due to the combination of low concentrations and low diffusion coefficients.
Metabolite domains or biochemical "compartments" are thought to exist in the cytosol of astrocytes, hepatocytes, pancreatic ß-cells, erythrocytes, and other cell types. Having shown that the existence of such compartments is unlikely, rather than speculating about specific datasets, we hope to foster the search for alternative explanations. Enzyme channeling, membrane compartmentation of enzymes, pathway segregation between cells (e.g., subtypes of astrocytes), and of course, artifacts, are possibilities that spring to mind. It is well established that enzymes and transporters can be part of macromolecular assemblies, often in the vicinity of their targets. Our contention is that such association does not relate to the building up of local substrate pools.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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This work was funded by FONDECYT grants No. 1051082 and 1051064 and institutional grants to CECS from the Millennium Science Initiative, Chile, and Fundación Andes, and also benefited from generous support to CECS from Empresas CMPC.
Submitted on December 1, 2006; accepted for publication February 7, 2007.
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