Rabbit heart mitochondrial hexokinase: solubilization and general properties

In rabbit heart, results show that two isoenzymes of hexokinase (HK) are present. The enzymatic activity associated with mitochondria consists of only one isoenzyme; according to its electrophoretic mobility and its apparent Km for glucose (0.065 mM), it has been identified as type I isoenzyme. The bound HK I exhibits a lower apparent Km for ATPMg than the solubilized enzyme, whereas the apparent Km for glucose is the same for bound and solubilized HK. Detailed studies have been performed to investigate the interactions which take place between the enzyme and the mitochondrial membrane. Neutral salts efficiently solubilize the bound enzyme. Digitonin induces only a partial release of the enzyme bound to mitochondria; this result could be explained by the existence of contacts between the outer and the inner mitochondrial membranes [C. R. Hackenbrock (1968) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 61, 598-605]. Furthermore, low concentrations (0.1 mM) of glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) or ATP4- specifically solubilize hexokinase. The solubilizing effect of G6P and ATP4-, which are potent inhibitors of the enzyme, can be prevented by incubation of mitochondria with Pi or Mg2+. In addition, enzyme solubilization by G6P can be reversed by Mg2+ only when the proteolytic treatment of the heart homogenate is omitted during the course of the isolation of mitochondria. These results concerning the interaction of rabbit heart hexokinase with the outer mitochondrial membrane agree with the schematic model proposed by Wilson [(1982) Biophys. J. 37, 18-19] for the brain enzyme. This model involves the existence of two kinds of interactions between HK and mitochondria; a very specific one with the hexokinase-binding protein of the outer mitochondrial membrane, which is suppressed by glucose 6-phosphate, and a less specific, cation-mediated one.