Activity of cytosolic and mitochondrial enzymes participating in nutrient catabolism of normal and tumoral islet cells.

The aim of the present study is to compare normal and tumoral pancreatic islet cells in terms of both the activity of selected cytosolic and mitochondrial enzymes participating to nutrient catabolism and the intrinsic properties of FAD-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase. The activity of the glycolytic enzymes hexokinase and lactate dehydrogenase was higher in tumoral (RINm5F) than normal islet cells. The opposite was seen for glutamate decarboxylase, glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate-pyruvate transaminase, glutamate dehydrogenase, 2-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and FAD-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (m-GDH). These findings are consistent with the high rates of glycolysis and protein synthesis seen in tumoral islet cells compared with normal islet cells, which favour mitochondrial oxidative events associated with the catabolism of D-glucose and amino acids. The intrinsic catalytic properties of m-GDH were comparable, albeit not identical, in normal and tumoral islet cells. Since a deficiency of m-GDH in pancreatic islets may represent a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of non-insulin-dependent diabetes, it is proposed that RINm5F cells may readily yield sufficient islet m-GDH for purification and further gene cloning.