Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is widely applied from analytics to biomedicine although it an inherently insensitive phenomenon. Overcoming sensitivity challenges key further broaden the applicability of NMR and, for example, improve medical diagnostics. Here, we present a rapid strategy enhance signals 13C-labelled metabolites with para-hydrogen in particular, 13C-pyruvate, important molecul...

Pyruvate has a remarkable protective effect against zinc neurotoxicity. Because zinc neurotoxicity is likely one of the key mechanisms of ischemic brain injury, the neuroprotective effect of pyruvate was tested in a rat model of transient forebrain ischemia. Control experiments in mouse cortical culture showed that pyruvate almost completely blocked zinc toxicity but did not attenuate calcium-o...

Human and rat erythrocytes were fractionated by counter-current distribution in charge-sensitive dextran/poly(ethylene glycol) two-phase systems. The specific activities of the key glycolytic enzymes (hexokinase, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase) declined along the distribution profiles, although the relative positions of the activity profiles were reversed in the two species. These enzy...

Metabolic fates of pyruvate (CO2, lactate, citrate) in normal and neoplastic cells have been assessed. Pyruvate consumption by tumour cells falls (by 72-85%) and mean percentage oxidation rises from 75% to 91% with hydroxycitrate. Ratios of rates of oxidation of (3-(14)C-pyruvate) : (1-(14)C-pyruvate), indicating CO2 produced from TCA cycle activity : that from PDH activity, are higher for tumo...

Pyruvate kinase is one of the three rate-limiting glycolytic enzymes that catalyze the last step of glycolysis, conversion of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) into pyruvate, which is associated with ATP generation. Two isozymes of pyruvate kinase, PykF and PykA, are identified in Escherichia coli PykF is considered important, whereas PykA has a less-defined role. Prior studies inactivated the pykA gen...

The regulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex was studied in the isolated perfused rat heart. Because 95% of the “CO2 produced as a result of the decarboxylation of [l-‘4C]pyruvate occurs via pyruvate dehydrogenase in the heart, the rate of 14COz production from infused [l-‘4C]pyruvate was utilized as the monitor of the metabolic flux through this enzyme complex. In contrast ...