Cold acclimation increases carnitine palmitoyltransferase I activity in oxidative muscle of striped bass

The effect of thermal acclimation on the activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I), the rate-limiting enzyme for beta-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids, was determined in oxidative red muscle of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) acclimated at 5 or 25 degrees C. As observed in mammalian tissues, malonyl-CoA potently inhibited CPT I activity of mitochondria. Inhibition by malonyl-CoA required inclusions of both bovine serum albumin (BSA) and palmitoyl-CoA in the reaction media. Because BSA binds long-chain fatty acyl-CoAs, this observation suggests that free fatty acyl-CoAs may disrupt mitochondrial membranes and affect the CPT I protein. Cold acclimation increased citrate synthase activity 1.6-fold and total CPT activity 2-fold in homogenates of red muscle; free carnitine increased 62%, and specific activity of CPT I in mitochondria increased 2-fold. No differences were observed between cold- and warm-acclimated fish in substrate-binding properties of CPT I at an assay temperature of 15 degrees C, as judged by the Michaelis constant (Km) for carnitine (0.11 +/- 0.02 vs. 0.13 +/- 0.02 mM) or inhibition of CPT I, as determined by the half-maximal inhibition concentration (IC50) for malonyl-CoA (0.14 +/- 0.05 vs. 0.09 +/- 0.03 microM). Thermal sensitivity of CPT I (Q10 = 2.91 +/- 0.12 vs. 3.02 +/- 0.20) and preference of CPT I for different long-chain fatty acyl-CoA substrates (16:1-CoA = 16:0-CoA > 18:1-CoA) were not altered by thermal acclimation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)