Evidence for intracellular partitioning of serine and glycine metabolism in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is the primary enzyme in the interconversion of serine and glycine. The roles of mitochondrial and cytosolic SHMT in the interconversion of serine and glycine were determined in two Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines that both contain cytosolic SHMT but either have (CHOm(+)) or lack (CHOm(-)) mitochondrial SHMT. Mitochondrial SHMT activity was significantly reduced in CHOm(-)(0.24+/-0.11 nmol/min per mg of mitochondrial protein) compared with CHOm(+) (3.21+/-0.66 nmol/min per mg of mitochondrial protein; P = 0.02) cells, whereas cytosolic SHMT activity was similar in CHOm(-) and CHOm(+) cells (1.09+/-0.31 and 1.53 +/- 0.12 nmol/min per mg of cytosolic protein respectively; P = 0.57). In CHOm(+) and CHOm(-) cells, the relative flux of glycine to serine measured with either [1-C-13]- or [2-C-13]-glycine was similar (CHOm(-): 538 +/- 82 nmol/24 per mg of DNA; CHOm(+): 616+/-88 nmol/24 h per mg of DNA; P = 0.42). In contrast, the relative flux of serine to glycine measured with [1-C-13]serine was low in CHOm(-) cells (80+/-28 nmol/24h per mg of DNA) compared with CHOm(+) cells (3080+/-320 nmol/24 h per mg of DNA; P = 0.0001). The rate of glycine production determined by [1-C-13]glycine dilution was lower in CHOm(-) (1200+/-200 nmol/24 h per mg of DNA) than CHOm(+) (10200 +/- 1800 nmol/24 h per mg of DNA; P = 0.03) cells, whereas glycine utilization was similar in the two cell lines. Serine production was similar in the two cell lines but serine utilization was lower in CHOm(-) (3800+/-1200 mu mol/24h per mg of DNA) than CHOm(+) (6600 +/- 1000 nmol/24 h per mg of DNA; P = 0.0002) cells. Increasing the serine concentration in the medium resulted in an increase in glycine production in CHOm(+) but not in CHOm(-) cells. Intracellular studies with [1-C-13]serine confirm the findings of decreased glycine production from serine. In CHO cells there is partitioning of intracellular serine and glycine metabolism, Our data support the hypothesis that mitochondrial SHMT is the primary pathway for serine into glycine interconversion.