Relation between 2-deoxyglucose phosphorylation and adenine nucleotide content in Lettré ascites cells.

The relation between the phosphorylation of deoxygluoose (2-DG) and levels of adenine nucleotides was investigated in endogenously respiring Ehrlich Lettréascites cells pretreated with various inhibitors. Pretreatment with the respiratory inhib itor, rotenone, caused a 70<; decrease in 2-deoxyglucose-6phosphate formation. The sources of energy for 2-DG phos phorylation in the presence of rotenone were found to be endoge nous reserves of adenine nucleotides, as well as a limited residual respiration. Phosphorylation of 2-DG in the presence of 10~4M dinitrophenol was 70' ; of normal, and was abolished by addition of rotenone. Dinitrophenol was shown to induce a stoichiometric transamination of alanine to pyruvate, and cause a marked increase of >4CO-> and pyruvato-14C from alanine-14C or glutamic acid-I4C. The evidence suggests that substrate level phosphoryla tion from a-o\oglut arate and subsequent formation of adenosine triphosphate by a decarboxylation reaction is at least partially responsible for the phosphorylation of 2-DG in uncoupled cells.