Cellular and subcellular localization of hexokinase, glutamate dehydrogenase, and alanine aminotransferase in the honeybee drone retina.

Subcellular localization of hexokinase in the honeybee drone retina was examined following fractionation of cell homogenate using differential centrifugation. Nearly all hexokinase activity was found in the cytosolic fraction, following a similar distribution as the cytosolic enzymatic marker, phosphoglycerate kinase. The distribution of enzymatic markers of mitochondria (succinate dehydrogenase, rotenone-insensitive cytochrome c reductase, and adenylate kinase) indicated that the outer mitochondrial membrane was partly damaged, but their distributions were different from that of hexokinase. The activity of hexokinase in purified suspensions of cells was fivefold higher in glial cells than in photoreceptors. This result is consistent with the hypothesis based on quantitative 2-deoxy[3H]glucose autoradiography that only glial cells phosphorylate significant amounts of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate. The activities of alanine aminotransferase and to a lesser extent of glutamate dehydrogenase were higher in the cytosolic than in the mitochondrial fraction. This important cytosolic activity of glutamate dehydrogenase was consistent with the higher activity found in mitochondria-poor glial cells. In conclusion, this distribution of enzymes is consistent with the model of metabolic interactions between glial and photoreceptor cells in the intact bee retina.