Measuring glucokinase enzyme activity in hypothalamic nuclei using a modified glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase based assay (#310)
Glucokinase
(GK) is an essential component of glucose sensing in the liver, pancreas and
brain. To investigate the role of distinct populations of glucokinase
expressing neurones in hypothalamic nuclei it is necessary to measure levels of
GK activity within them under different physiological conditions. Previous
methods for direct measurement of GK activity1 requires lengthy
preparation and uses large amounts of tissue so is not suitable for hypothalamic
measurements where nuclei can be less than 1mm3. We have modified a
previously used assay2 for use in
individual nuclei of the rat hypothalamus. The GK activity assay measures
production of NADPH in the following reaction. GK catalyses the phosphorylation
of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P) in the presence of ATP. G-6-P
dehydrogenase converts G-6-P to 6-phophate-D-gluconate and generates NADPH. Absorbance
by NADPH at 340nm is measured using a spectrophotometer to calculate NADPH
produced in the reaction and therefore GK activity. Inhibitors of other hexokinases
are added to ensure that only GK can catalyse the reaction. We tested the assay
using GK from bacillus stearothermophilus (Sigma Ltd, Poole, Dorset, UK). Increasing
GK resulted in a proportional increase in NADPH production. We then measured GK
activity in homogenised hypothalamic nuclei of rats which had been
microdissected using a punch biopsy. Active GK was measured at 7.13±0.19 U/mg of protein (n=10) in the ventromedial
nucleus, an area widely associated with control of glucose homeostasis.
Interestingly, GK activity was significantly higher in the nearby arcuate
nucleus (9.83±0.42U/mg,
p<0.0001, n=11) and slightly lower in the paraventricular nucleus (6.75±0.58U/mg, n=11). In conclusion, this tool offers
a direct measure of GK activity in hypothalamic tissue. This can be used to
detect changes in GK activity using small amounts of tissue and is useful in
the investigation of glucose sensing in the brain.
- Liang, Y., Najafi, H. & Matschinsky, F. M. Glucose regulates glucokinase activity in cultured islets from rat pancreas. Journal of Biological Chemistry 265, 16863-16866 (1990).
- Goward, C. R., Hartwell, R., Atkinson, T. & Scawen, M. D. The purification and characterization of glucokinase from the thermophile Bacillus stearothermophilus. The Biochemical journal 237, 415-420 (1986).