Hydrolysis of organic sulfates in periportal and pericentral regions of the liver lobule: studies with 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate in the perfused rat liver.

The hydrolysis of 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate by liver sulfatases to free fluorescent 4-methylumbelliferone and the subsequent formation of the glucuronide conjugate were studied in the isolated perfused rat liver. In livers from fed, phenobarbital-treated rats, 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate (0.25-1.5 mM) was hydrolyzed rapidly to free 4-methylumbelliferone at maximal rates of about 5 mumol/g/hr. A major fraction of the free 4-methylumbelliferone formed was converted to the glucuronide at maximal rates around 20 mumol/g/hr. Similar rates of hydrolysis were observed in livers from fasted, phenobarbital-treated or normal rats, although the ratio of glucuronide to free product was decreased markedly by fasting. In liver homogenates, however, rates of organic sulfate hydrolysis exceeded those observed in the perfused liver by at least 2-fold, suggesting that 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate content is an important determinant of rates of hydrolysis in the perfused liver. There was a good correlation (r = 0.91) between rates of product formation and fluorescence of 4-methylumbelliferone detected from the liver surface with fiber optic light guides. Fluorescence of 4-methylumbelliferone produced from hydrolysis of 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate was also monitored with micro-light guides placed on periportal and pericentral areas of the liver lobule for the estimation of local rates of product formation. When perfusions were in the anterograde direction, desulfation of 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate was about 50% higher in pericentral (28.8 +/- 9.3 mumol/g/hr) than in periportal (18.2 +/- 2.7 mumol/g/hr) areas. Furthermore, 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate content determined in microdissected samples was 1.5- to 2-fold higher in pericentral than in periportal regions of the liver lobule but the activity of 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate sulfatase was identical in both zones of the liver lobule. We conclude, therefore, that the local substrate content is an important determinant of rates of 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate hydrolysis in sublobular zones of the liver.