The transacetylase component (E2) of PDC (pyruvate dehydrogenase complex) plays a critical role in the regulation of PDHK (pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase) activity. The present study was undertaken to investigate further the molecular mechanism by which E2 modulates the activity of PDHK. In agreement with the earlier results, it was found that the inner L2 (lipoyl-bearing domain 2) of E2 expressed with or without the C-terminal hinge region had little, if any, effect on the kinase activity, indicating a lack of direct allosteric effect of L2 on PDHK. In marked contrast, significant activation of PDHK was observed with the construct consisting of L2 and the E1BD (E1-binding domain) of E2 (L2-E1BD didomain) suggesting that co-localization and/or mutual orientation of PDHK and E1, facilitated by E2 binding, largely account for the activation of PDHK by the transacetylase component. Isothermal titration calorimetry and glutathione S-transferase pull-down assays established that binding of adenyl nucleotides to the PDHK molecule facilitated the release of L2 domain. In contrast, binding of the L2 domain caused a significant decrease in the affinity of PDHK for ATP. The cross-talk in binding of adenyl nucleotides and the L2 domain to PDHK may indicate the existence of a highly integrated mechanism whereby the exchange of lipoyl-bearing domains presented to PDHK by E2 is coupled with ADP/ATP exchange.

Protein—protein interactions play an important role in the regulation of enzymic activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK). It is generally believed that the binding of PDK to the inner lipoyl-bearing domain L2 of the transacetylase component E2 of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex largely determines the level of kinase activity. In the present study, we characterized the interaction between the individual isoenzymes of PDK (PDK1—PDK4) and monomeric L2 domain of human E2, as well as the effect of this interaction on kinase activity. It was found that PDK isoenzymes are markedly different with respect to their affinities for L2. PDK3 demonstrated a very tight binding, which persisted during isolation of PDK3—L2 complexes using size-exclusion chromatography. Binding of PDK1 and PDK2 was readily reversible with the apparent dissociation constant of approx. 10 μ M for both isoenzymes. PDK4 had a greatly reduced capacity for L2 binding (relative order PDK3>PDK1 = PDK2>PDK4). Monomeric L2 domain alone had very little effect on the activities of either PDK1 or PDK2. In contrast, L2 caused a 3-fold increase in PDK3 activity and approx. 37% increase in PDK4 activity. These results strongly suggest that the interactions between the individual isoenzymes of PDK and L2 domain are isoenzyme-specific and might be among the major factors that determine the level of kinase activity of particular isoenzyme towards the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.