Mechanism of pyruvate inhibition of plant pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase and synergism with ADP

The effects of various metabolites on pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) kinase-catalyzed inactivation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) were studied in extracts of mitochondria purified from green leaf tissue of Pisum sativum L. Pyruvate was an uncompetitive inhibitor of PDH kinase with respect to ATP whereas ADP was a competitive inhibitor. In the absence of pyruvate a fivefold excess of ADP over ATP was required to inhibit PDH kinase, however, in the presence of pyruvate much lower ADP concentrations were required. Inhibition of PDH kinase by pyruvate and ADP was synergistic and the addition of ADP changed pyruvate from an uncompetitive inhibitor to a noncompetitive inhibitor. This result indicates that pyruvate acts as a "dead-end" inhibitor, binding to the PDH kinase-ADP reaction intermediate. Evidence is also presented that inhibition by pyruvate in the presence of thiamine pyrophosphate is due to the formation of hydroxyethyl thiamine pyrophosphate. The results are discussed in terms of the regulation of PDC activity by pyruvate and ADP during periods of increased demand for carbon skeleton biosynthesis by way of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle despite constraints imposed on TCA cycle flux by a high ATP/ADP ratio.