title: 13C nuclear magnetic resonance studies of anaerobic glycolysis in Trypanosoma brucei spp.
abstract: Anaerobic glycolysis in Trypanosoma brucei spp. has been studied by 13C NMR at 50 and 75.5 MHz. The uptake of [U-13C]glucose by cell suspensions of T. b. brucei was monitored by time-course spectroscopy, and while no anomeric specificity was found, the end-products of glycolysis were confirmed as glycerol and pyruvate together with alanine and dihydroxypropionate. The intermediacy of L-glycerol-3-phosphate was also ascertained. The incorporation of C-1 of [1-13C]glucose and of C-6 of [6-13C]glucose into glycerol and pyruvate in T. b. gambiense was quantified by measurement of the longitudinal relaxation times of the species involved. An incorporation to the extent of 66% of each substrate into equimolar amounts of glycerol and pyruvate indicate that Keq for the triosephosphate-isomerase-mediated reaction approaches unity.
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006019:Glycolysis; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000378:metabolism*; D014347:Trypanosoma brucei gambiense / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005947:Glucose