Cytosolic citrate is proposed to play a crucial role in substrate fuel selection in the heart. However, little is known about factors regulating the transfer of citrate from the mitochondria, where it is synthesized, to the cytosol. Further to our observation that rat hearts perfused under normoxia release citrate whose (13)C labeling pattern reflects that of mitochondrial citrate (B. Comte, G. Vincent, B. Bouchard, and C. Des Rosiers. J. Biol. Chem. 272: 26117-26124, 1997), we report here data indicating that this citrate release is a specific process reflecting the mitochondrial efflux of citrate, a process referred to as cataplerosis. Indeed, measured rates of citrate release, which vary between 2 and 21 nmol/min, are modulated by the nature and concentration of exogenous substrates feeding acetyl-CoA (fatty acid) and oxaloacetate (lactate plus pyruvate) for the mitochondrial citrate synthase reaction. Such release rates that represent at most 2% of the citric acid cycle flux are in agreement with the activity of the mitochondrial tricarboxylate transporter whose participation is also substantiated by 1) parallel variations in citrate release rates and tissue levels of citrate plus malate, the antiporter, and 2) a lowering of the citrate release rate by 1,2, 3-benzenetricarboxylic acid, a specific inhibitor of the transporter. Taken together, the results from the present study indicate that citrate cataplerosis is modulated by substrate supply, in agreement with the role of cytosolic citrate in fuel partitioning, and occurs, at least in part, through the mitochondrial tricarboxylate transporter.

The cardioprotective effects of fumarate have been linked to its metabolism to succinate through both oxidative and reductive pathways. To date, the relative contribution of these pathways is a subject of controversy. To address this question, we designed a protocol with 13C substrates and took advantage of 13C isotopomer analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Rat hearts were perfused with 11 mM glucose, 1 mM lactate, 0.2 mM pyruvate, 0.2 mM [1-13C]octanoate, and 0.04 or 0.4 mM [U-13C4]fumarate. On reoxygenation after 40 min of severe hypoxia, hearts perfused with 0.4 mM fumarate showed a better recovery of contractile function and released less lactate dehydrogenase (an index of cellular necrosis) than those perfused with 0.04 mM fumarate. The 13C data showed that, in hypoxic hearts, fumarate conversion to succinate occurred only through reduction, although it accounted for only 16% of total succinate release. Most of the succinate was formed through the oxidation of alpha-ketoglutarate or its precursors (50 +/- 5%) and by another yet-unidentified pathway (34 +/- 4%). These data show that, in a model of hypoxia-reoxygenation, the cardioprotective effects of fumarate were associated with its predominant metabolism to succinate through the reductive pathway.

Little is known about the sources of cytosolic acetyl-CoA used for the synthesis of malonyl-CoA, a key regulator of fatty acid oxidation in the heart. We tested the hypothesis that citrate provides acetyl-CoA for malonyl-CoA synthesis after its mitochondrial efflux and cleavage by cytosolic ATP-citrate lyase. We expanded on a previous study where we characterized citrate release from perfused rat hearts (Vincent G, Comte B, Poirier M, and Des Rosiers C. Citrate release by perfused rat hearts: a window on mitochondrial cataplerosis. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 278: E846-E856, 2000). In the present study, we show that citrate release rates, ranging from 6 to 22 nmol/min, can support a net increase in malonyl-CoA concentrations induced by changes in substrate supply, at most 0.7 nmol/min. In experiments with [U-13 C](lactate ϩ pyruvate) and [1-13 C]oleate, we show that the acetyl moiety of malonyl-CoA is derived from both pyruvate and long-chain fatty acids. This 13 Clabeling of malonyl-CoA occurred without any changes in its concentration. Hydroxycitrate, an inhibitor of ATP-citrate lyase, prevents increases in malonyl-CoA concentrations and decreases its labeling from [U-13 C](lactate ϩ pyruvate). Our data support at least a partial role of citrate in the transfer from the mitochondria to cytosol of acetyl units for malonylCoA synthesis. In addition, they provide a dynamic picture of malonyl-CoA metabolism: even when the malonyl-CoA concentration remains constant, there appears to be a constant need to supply acetyl-CoA from various carbon sources, both carbohydrates and lipids, for malonyl-CoA synthesis.gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; adenosine 5Ј-triphosphate-citrate lyase; hydroxycitrate; acetyl-coenzyme A; citric acid cycle; 13 C-substrate; isotopomer analysis THE INTRACELLULAR CONCENTRATION of malonyl-CoA modulates a number of physiological and pathophysiological events. These effects of malonyl-CoA are related to its inhibition of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1. The latter controls the entry of long-chain acyl-CoA into mitochondria, where they are ␤-oxidized for energy production. In addition, carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 activity affects cytosolic concentrations of longchain acyl-CoAs, which influence signal transduction and binding of nuclear transcription factors (5,16,19,42). In lipogenic tissues such as the liver, malonyl-CoA is both a modulator of fatty acid oxidation and an intermediate of fatty acid synthesis (25). In nonlipogenic tissues such as the heart and skeletal muscle, cytosolic malonyl-CoA modulates fatty acid oxidation and is a component of a fuel-sensing and signaling mechanism that responds to changes in the cell's substrate supply and energy expenditure (31, 33). Recently, a dysregulated malonyl-CoA metabolism has been implicated in insulin resistance (33), apoptosis (19), and functional recovery of the heart after ischemia (20). In the heart, the regulatory role of cytosolic malonylCoA is supported by the kinetic and regulatory properties of enzymes involved in its meta...