Pyruvate metabolism in bovine epididymal spermatozoa

Treating bovine epididymal spermatozoa with rutamycin or rotenone inhibited both respiration and motility supported by endogenous substrates. When oxidative phosphorylation had been blocked with various inhibitors, pyruvate was metabolized to yield ATP and restored motility. Fructose, which is metabolized via glycolysis to yield ATP, was also able to resuscitate the cells. Other substrates tested (lactate, acetate, alpha-ketoglutarate, or glyoxylate) were unable to restore motility in rutamycin-treated cells. In the presence of pyruvate, the phosphorylation uncoupler, carbonylcyanide-p-trifluoromethyoxphenylhydrazone, reduced motility and ATP to common levels in untreated cells or cells treated with rutamycin or rotenone. Pyruvate is thus metabolized to produce ATP by a pathway independent of oxidative phosphorylation associated with the electron transport chain. 5-Methoxyindole-2-carboxylic acid, an inhibitor of lipoyldehydrogenase, prevented the increase of motility and ATP in rutamycin-treated cells, indicating that alpha-keto acid oxidation is involved in the production of ATP from pyruvate when rutamycin is present. With pyruvate present, bongkrekic acid, antimycin A, and anaerobiosis eliminated motility, reduced ATP to low levels, and also significantly reduced the rate of pyruvate metabolism. Acetate was produced from pyruvate only when cellular ATP concentrations were low. Decreases in free carnitine concentrations showed that pyruvate initially used was converted to acetylcarnitine. The results indicate that the intramitochondrial lactate dehydrogenase X, which is unique to spermatozoa, allows the NADH resulting from pyruvate oxidation to reduce other pyruvate molecules to lactate. Pyruvate thus competes with, and can substitute for, the NADH dehydrogenase of the electron transport chain. Pyruvate rapidly repletes the acetylcarnitine pool under a variety of conditions.