The pathways of glutamate and glutamine oxidation by tumor cell mitochondria. Role of mitochondrial NAD(P)+-dependent malic enzyme.

Little evidence has been available on the oxidative pathways of glutamine and glutamate, the major respiratory substrates of cancer cells. Glutamate formed from glutamine by phosphate-dependent glutaminase undergoes quantitative transamination by aerobic tumor mitochondria to yield aspartate. However, when malate is also added there is a pronounced decrease in aspartate production and a large formation of citrate and alanine, in both state 3 and 4 conditions. In contrast, addition of malate to normal rat heart, liver, or kidney mitochondria oxidizing glutamate causes a marked increase in aspartate production. Further analysis showed that extramitochondrial malate is oxidized almost quantitatively to pyruvate + CO2 by NAD(P)+-linked malic enzyme, present in the mitochondria of all tumors tested, but absent in heart, liver, and kidney mitochondria. On the other hand intramitochondrial malate generated from glutamate is oxidized quantitatively to oxalacetate by mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase of tumors. Acetyl-CoA derived from extramitochondrial malate via pyruvate and oxalacetate derived from glutamate via intramitochondrial malate are quantitatively converted into citrate, which is extruded. No evidence was found that malic enzyme of tumor mitochondria converts glutamate-derived malate into pyruvate as postulated in other reports. Possible mechanisms for the integration of mitochondrial malic enzyme and malate dehydrogenase activities in tumors are discussed.