Compartmentation of cytosolic dehydrogenases studied by transfer of tritium from labelled substrates into lactate in rat hepatocytes.

This paper describes the transfer of tritium from [2-(3)H]xylitol or (1R)-[1-(3)H]ethanol into lactate in cells from fed rats either untreated or triiodothyronine-treated. The labelling pattern of lactate during the metabolism of [2-(3)H]xylitol or (1R)-[1-(3)H]ethanol follows the equation L = K(1 - e-t/tau) (mumol tritium/mumol lactate). The yield in lactate together with the minimum value of the total flux of reducing equivalents are used to estimate the specific radioactivity of NADH. We have calculated the lactate dehydrogenase-catalysed oxidation rate of NADH from the experimental values of lactate labelling and the specific radioactivity of NADH. We found the calculated flux of reducing equivalents from NADH to pyruvate to be of the same order of magnitude whether labelled ethanol or labelled xylitol was metabolized. We found the flux to be only a few percent of the maximal activity of lactate dehydrogenase. The results obtained suggest that the cytoplasm can be regarded as one compartment, containing a single pool of NAD(H).