Regulatory properties of human erythrocyte hexokinase during cell ageing.

Human red blood cell hexokinase exists in multiple molecular forms with different isoelectric points but similar kinetic and regulatory properties. All three major isoenzymes (HK Ia, Ib, and Ic) are inhibited competitively with respect to Mg.ATP by glucose 6-phosphate (Ki = 15 microM), glucose 1,6-diphosphate (Ki - 22 microM), 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (Ki = 4 mM), ATP (Ki = 1.5 mM), and reduced glutathione (Ki = 3 mM). All these compounds are present in the human erythrocyte at concentrations able to modify the hexokinase reaction velocity. However, the oxygenation state of hemoglobin significantly modifies their free concentrations and the formation of the Mg complexes. The calculated rate of glucose phosphorylation, in the presence of the mentioned compounds, is practically identical to the measured rate of glucose utilization by intact erythrocytes (1.43 +/- 0.15 mumol h-1 ml red blood cells-1). Hexokinase in young red blood cells is fivefold higher when compared with the old ones, but the concentration of many inhibitors of the enzyme is also cell age-dependent. Glucose 6-phosphate, glucose 1,6-diphosphate, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, ATP, and Mg all decay during cell ageing but at different rates. The free concentrations and the hemoglobin and Mg complexes of both ATP and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate with hemoglobin in the oxy and deoxy forms have been calculated. This information was utilized in the calculation of glucose phosphorylation rate during cell ageing. The results obtained agree with the measured glycolytic rates and suggest that the decay of hexokinase during cell ageing could play a critical role in the process of cell senescence and destruction.