Microheterogeneity of cytosolic and membrane-bound hexokinase II in Morris hepatoma 3924A.

Phosphorylation of glucose by hexokinase is the key step in glucose and energy metabolism of the cell. In the Morris hepatoma 3924A, hexokinase II is the predominant hexokinase isoenzyme and occurs in the cytosol as well as bound to membranes. Hexokinase II was isolated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography from both the cytosolic and the mitochondria-enriched fractions and further resolved by hydrophobic-interaction chromatography on phenyl-Sepharose into two components designated hexokinase IIa and IIb. In both the soluble and the mitochondria-enriched fractions, type IIb was the predominant form, but the IIb/IIa ratio was higher in the particulate (6-8) as compared with the cytosolic fraction (1.5-2.0). Binding of the isolated forms of the enzyme to rat liver mitochondria resulted in a 2-10-fold activation of both subtypes. Biochemical characterization showed that both subtypes are closely related to the isoenzyme commonly referred to as hexokinase II, and that the microheterogeneity was not a consequence of contamination with hexokinase I or III. Both subtypes had a molecular mass of 110 kDa, they were inhibited by Pi at concentrations higher than 5 mM, and activated by the detergent CHAPS. The two subtypes differed in electrophoretic mobility (IIa > IIb), in Km values for glucose (IIa, 0.109 mM; IIb, 0.216 mM), in Ki values for glucose 6-phosphate (IIa, 25 microM; IIb, 0.106 mM), and in Ki values for glucose 1,6-biphosphate (IIa, 12.2 microM; IIb, 5.5 microM). An artificial proteolytic cleavage as cause of the hexokinase II microheterogeneity can be excluded, since both subtypes show the same molecular mass and the ability to bind to mitochondria and phenyl-Sepharose. In addition, the relative proportions of the two subtypes did not vary markedly between several enzyme preparations. Northern-blot analysis with a hexokinase II-specific cDNA probe revealed two distinct mRNA transcripts of 5.2 and 6.3 kb in length, which offers the possibility that hexokinase II microheterogeneity is due to differential RNA transcription and/or processing.