THE EFFECT OF VARIOUS IONS ON THE ANAEROBIC GLYCOLYSIS OF RAT LIVER IN VITRO

Abstract

The rate of anaerobic glycogenolysis in rat liver slices and the distribution of the end-products between lactic acid-reducing sugar have been investigated in various media. Both the rate of glyco-genolysis and the proportion of lactic acid formed are maximal in media containing high concns. of K, phosphate, and bicarbonate ions. These effects are quite distinct from the influence of glycolysis of the initial glycogen content of the liver slices. However, the relationship between glycogen content and rate of glycolysis is most clearly seen in the medium just described. In the media supporting more active glycolysis, the formation of reducing sugar is also increased but to a much smaller extent than lactate formation; the dual pathway of glycogenolysis is consequently shifted in the direction of enhanced glycolysis. The addition of glucose is without appreciable effect in any of the media studied; the conclusion of Orr and Strickland that normal rat liver in vitro (unlike liver tumors) exhibits anaerobic glycolysis but not glucolysis to this extent confirmed and extended to conditions under which glycolysis is greatly augmented.