The effect of 2,4-dinitrophenol on adipose-tissue metabolism

1. The effect of dinitrophenol on the metabolism of glucose labelled with ¹⁴C and tritium by epididymal fat-pad segments from fed rats was studied. Dinitrophenol at concentrations of 0·1–0·3mm: (a) had little effect on glucose utilization; (b) depressed synthesis of fatty acids and greatly increased that of lactate; (c) increased the T/¹⁴C ratio in fatty acids synthesized from [U−¹⁴C,3-T]glucose and decreased that in fatty acids synthesized from [U−¹⁴C,4-T]glucose; (d) abolished randomization of ¹⁴C from [6−¹⁴C]glucose in lactate. 2. Dinitrophenol stimulated oxidation of pyruvate and greatly inhibited the oxidation of lactate. It inhibited lipogenesis from pyruvate and lactate. 3. From the isotope data it was calculated that: (a) dinitrophenol stimulates oxidation via the tricarboxylic acid cycle three- to six-fold; (b) dinitrophenol depresses markedly the operation of the pentose cycle; (c) in the presence of dinitrophenol, NADPH formed in the pentose cycle provides all the hydrogen equivalents for fatty acid reduction, whereas, in its absence, NADPH provides 50–70% of the hydrogen equivalents; (d) in the presence of dinitrophenol, there is an excess of ATP produced in the cytoplasm, which flows into the mitochondria. A reverse flow operates in the absence of dinitrophenol. 4. A balance of formation and utilization of reduced nicotinamide nucleotides in the cytoplasm was established. With dinitrophenol there is some excess of NADH. There are indications that this excess may be transferred into mitochondria in the form of malate. 5. Our results are interpreted to indicate the absence from adipose tissue of the α-glycerophosphate shuttle for transferring reducing equivalents from the cytoplasm to mitochondria. 6. The effects of dinitrophenol are accounted for in terms of decreased ATP concentrations in the cells, leading to marked decrease in pyruvate carboxylation in the mitochondria and depression of fatty acid synthesis in the cytoplasm.