Kinetic evidence for compartmentalization of myo-inositol in hepatocytes

myo-Inositol uptake and conversion to phosphatidylinositol (PI) was studied in isolated rat hepatocytes. Uptake of myo-[2-3H]-inositol into the trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble fraction showed no evidence of saturation, while incorporation into lipid had an apparent Km of 0.28 mmol/L for external myo-inositol. With 50 mumol/L myo-[2-3H]-inositol, approximately half of the radiolabel was found in lipid at 30 minutes. Glucose and galactose were weak inhibitors, while phlorizin at 1 mmol/L reduced uptake by 50%. Metabolic inhibitors reduced incorporation of myo-[2-3H]-inositol into lipid, but had no effect on uptake. Hepatocytes maintained myo-inositol levels of 0.4 mmol/L for 60 minutes when incubated with 50 mumol/L myo-inositol, but levels increased when incubated with 1 mmol/L myo-inositol. Efflux of label was studied in hepatocytes prelabeled for 20 minutes with myo-[2-3H]-inositol. Loss of label was initially rapid, but had slowed by 20 minutes, with much of the label remaining in the cells. Phlorizin inhibited the loss of myo-[2-3H]-inositol, while increasing myo-inositol concentration in the medium enhanced efflux. The effects of these agents on the rate of efflux was found in lipid rather than in the TCA-soluble myo-inositol fraction. These findings suggest that myo-inositol is compartmentalized within hepatocytes, with a bulk metabolically inert pool and a smaller active pool that equilibrates with extracellular myo-inositol via an energy-independent carrier-mediated mechanism, and is preferentially available for efflux or for synthesis of phosphoinositides.