Effects of insulin and work on fructose 2,6-bisphosphate content and phosphofructokinase activity in perfused rat hearts

The effects of insulin and increased cardiac work on glycolytic rate, metabolite content, and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P₂) content were studied in isolated perfused rat hearts. Steady-state rates of glycolysis increased 5-fold with the addition of insulin to the perfusate or by increasing cardiac pressure-volume work and correlated well in most conditions with changes in substrate concentration (Fru-6-P) and with concentration of the activator, Fru-2,6-P₂. There was no correlation with changes in other well known regulators including citrate, ATP, AMP, P(i), or cytosolic phosphorylation potential. Using phosphofructokinase purified from hearts perfused under identical conditions, allosteric kinetic experiments were performed using the metabolite and effector concentrations determined from in vivo experiments. Reaction rates for phosphofructokinase calculated in vitro agreed well with the glycolytic rates measured in vivo and correlated with changes in Fru-6-P but not with other effectors. However, higher Fru-2,6-P₂ levels were more effective in maintaining phosphofructokinase activity at high ATP and citrate levels. Kinetic experiments did not indicate a covalent modification of phosphofructokinase. These data indicate that control of cardiac phosphofructokinase and glycolysis may be accomplished by changes in the availability of substrate, Fru-6-P, and activator, Fru-2,6-P₂, rather than by citrate, adenine nucleotides, or cytosolic phosphorylation potential as previously suggested.