Relationship between volume of bathing medium and ectoenzyme activity in monolayers of cultured BPAEC

It is unclear whether all or a fraction of the capillary plasma volume (Vcp) serves as the reaction volume (Vr) for pulmonary capillary endothelial ectoenzymes, in vivo. Cultured endothelial cell (EC) monolayers provide a convenient model for studying EC-bound enzyme-Vr relationships. Because the Michaelis-Menten parameter [maximum velocity of enzyme reaction (Vmax) = E x kcat/Vr, where E is enzyme mass and kcat is the constant of product formation] is inversely proportional to Vr, we hypothesized that increasing the volume of medium (Vm) bathing EC monolayers would proportionally reduce the calculated Vmax (or Vmax/K(m), where K(m) is the Michaelis constant) values of an ectoenzyme reacting with a substrate only if, and as long as, Vm = Vr. To test this hypothesis, studies were performed in bovine pulmonary arterial EC grown to confluence. Activities of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and 5'-nucleotidase (NCT) were assayed in Earle's balanced salts solution utilizing [3H]benzoyl-Phe-Ala-Pro ([3H]BPAP) and 5'-[14C]AMP as substrates, respectively. Under first-order reaction conditions and at constant substrate concentrations ([BPAP] = 15 nM, [AMP] = 1 microM), Vmax/K(m) ratios of ACE and NCT declined to 20% of their original values, as Vm increased from 0.6 to 2 ml. ACE activity was also studied at constant substrate mass (BPAP = 7 pmol) under first-order reaction conditions. Again, enzyme activity (Vmax/K(m)) declined proportionally to increasing Vm. Under zero-order reaction conditions ([BPAP] = 250 microM), ACE activity (Vmax) was similarly related to Vm. Linear regression analyses revealed that ACE or NCT would recognize up to at least 3 ml Vm, a volume vastly exceeding that of Vcp in a section of the capillary bed composed of an equivalent number of ECs, thus suggesting that Vcp could serve as the reaction volume for pulmonary capillary EC ectoenzymes in vivo.