Phosphofructokinase and the Pasteur effect

Abstract

Several recent studies, based on measurement of substrate levels, indicate that the enzyme reaction primarily responsible for the Pasteur effect is phosphofructokinase (PFK) in yeast (l), ascites tumor cells (2), heert (3), and diaphragm (4). The last confirms earlier less clearcut evidence for skeletal muscle (5). The rapid increase in fructose diphosphate (FDP) following onset of ischemia in-brain (6,7) may be interpreted in the same way, and this is substantiated by in vitro studies with supernatant fluid from brain homogenates supplemented with liver mitochondria (8,9).