Specific, reversible inactivation of phosphofructokinase by fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. Involvement of adenosine 5'-triphosphate, oleate, and 3-phosphoglycerate.

Optimal conditions necessary for the reversible inactivation of crystalline rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase by homogeneous rabbit liver fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase have been studied. At higher enzyme levels (to 530 mug/ml of phosphofructokinase) the two proteins were mixed and incubated in a pH 7.5 buffer composed of 50 mM Tris-HC1, 2 mM potassium phosphate, and 0.2 mM dithiothreitol. Aliquots were removed at various times and assayed for enzyme activity. A time dependent inactivation of phosphofructokinase caused by 1-2.3 times its weight of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was observed at 30, 23, and 0 degree C. This inactivation did not require the presence of adenosine 5'-triphosphate or Mg2+ in the incubation mixture, but an adenosine 5'-triphosphate concentration of 2.7 mM or greater was required in the assay to keep phosphofructokinase in an inactive form. A mixture of activators (inorganic phosphate, (NH4)2SO4, and adenosine 5'-monophosphate), when added to the assay cuvette, restored nearly all of the expected enzyme activity. Incubations with other proteins, including aldolase, at concentrations equal to or greater than the effective quantity of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase had no inhibitory effect on phosphofructokinase activity. Removal of tightly bound fructose 1,6-bisphosphate from phosphofructokinase could not explain this inactivation, since several analyses of crystalline phosphofructokinase averaged less than 0.1 mol of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate/320 000 g of enzyme. Furthermore, the inactivation occurred in the absence of Mg2+ where the complete lack of fructose-1-6-bisphosphatase activity was confirmed directly. At lower phosphofructokinase concentrations (0.2-2 mug/ml) the inactivation was studied directly in the assay cuvette. Higher ratios of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase to phosphofructokinase were necessary in these cases, but oleate and 3-phosphoglycerate acted synergistically with lower amounts of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase to cause inactivation. The inactivation did not occur when high concentrations of fructose 6-phosphate were present in the assay, or when the level of adenosine 5'-triphosphate was decreased. However, the inactivation was found at pH 8, where the effects of allosteric regulators on phosphofructokinase are greatly reduced. Experiments with rat liver phosphofructokinase showed that this enzyme was also subject to inhibition by rabbit liver fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase under conditions similar to those used in the muscle enzyme studies. Attempts to demonstrate direct interaction between phosphofructokinase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate by physical methods were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, our results suggest that, under conditions which approximate the physiological state, the presence of fructose-1,6bisphosphatase can cause phosphofructokinase to assume an inactive conformation. This interaction may have a significant role in vivo in controlling the interrelationship between glycolysis and gluconeogenesis.