Relation between energy production and adenine nucleotide metabolism in human blood platelets

Abstract

The relation between ATP production and adenine nucleotide metabolism was investigated in human platelets which were starved by incubation in glucose-free, CN−-containing medium and subsequently incubated with different amounts of glucose. In the absence of mitochondrial energy production (blocked by CN−) and glycogen catabolism (glycogen almost completely consumed during starvation), lactate production increased proportionally with increasing amounts of glucose. The generated ATP was almost completely consumed in the various ATP-consuming processes in the cell except for a fixed portion (about 7%) that was reserved for restoration of the adenylate energy charge. During the first 10 min after glucose addition, the adenine nucleotide pool remained constant. Thereafter, when the glycolytic flux, measured as lactate formation, was more than 3.5 μmol · min−1 · 10−11 cells, the pool increased slightly by resynthesis from hypoxanthine-inosine and then stabilized; at a lower flux the pool decreased and metabolic ATP and energy charge declined to values found during starvation. Between moments of rising and falling adenylate energy charges, periods of about 10 min remained in which the charge was constant and ATP supply and demand had reached equilibrium. This enabled comparison between the adenylate energy charge and ATP regeneration velocity. A linear relation was obtained for charge values between 0.4 and 0.85 and ATP regeneration rates between 0.6 and 3.5 ATP equiv. · min−1 · 10−11 cells. These data indicate that in starved platelets ATP regeneration velocity and energy charge are independent and that each appears to be subject to the availability of extracellular substrate.