Effects of alloxan diabetes on the turnover of rat liver glycogen synthase. Comparison with liver phosphorylase.

Rat liver glycogen synthase shows almost a 2-fold increase in activity 8 days after onset of alloxan diabetes. Immunological and catalytic criteria indicate that the change in activity is associated with an increase in the amount of enzyme in the diabetic. Apparent rates of degradation were determined for isolated glycogen synthase and phosphorylase from the livers of 2-, 5-, and 8-day diabetic, insulin-treated diabetic and normal rats using the double isotope ([3H]leucine and [14C]leucine) labeling method (Arias, I. M., Doyle, D., and Schimke, R. T. (1969) J. Biol. Chem. 244, 3303-3315). Relative rates of enzyme synthesis and degradation were determined by comparing the 3H incorporation and 3H/14C ratios of the isolated enzymes to the isotope labeling of a liver fraction representing the average of liver proteins. Glycogen synthase showed a gradual increase in the rate of degradation through the course of diabetes with an average relative rate of degradation in the 8-day diabetic 1.8 times greater than the normal. The relative rate of synthesis for glycogen synthase in the diabetic was 2.2- to 2.5-fold greater than the normal. Phosphorylase from 5- and 8-day diabetic rats had relative rates of degradation 4.0-5.3 times greater than enzyme from the normal. In the diabetic, the rate of degradation of phosphorylase was greater than for synthase while the opposite was observed in the normal rat. The relative rate of synthesis for phosphorylase from diabetic rats was approximately 4.5-fold greater than normal. The increased concentration of glycogen synthase in the diabetic liver is because of an increased rate of synthesis and not a decreased rate of enzyme degradation.