L-leucine stimulates glutamate dehydrogenase activity and glutamate synthesis by regulating mTORC1/SIRT4 pathway in pig liver

Abstract

The liver is the most essential organ for the metabolism of ammonia, in where most of ammonia is removed by urea and glutamine synthesis. Regulated by leucine, glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) catalyzes the reversible inter-conversion of glutamate to ammonia. To determine the mechanism of leucine regulating GDH, pigs weighing 20 ± 1 kg were infused for 80 min with ammonium chloride or alanine in the presence or absence of leucine. Primary pig hepatocytes were incubated with or without leucine. In the in vivo experiments with either ammonium or alanine as the nitrogen source, addition of leucine significantly inhibited ureagenesis and promoted the production of glutamate and glutamine in the perfused pig liver (P 0.05), while mTORC1 signaling was activated. Leucine exerted no significant changes in both GDH activity and SIRT4 gene expression in rapamycin treated hepatocytes (P > 0.05). In conclusion, L-leucine increases GDH activity and stimulates glutamate synthesis from different nitrogen sources by regulating mTORC1/SIRT4 pathway in the liver of pigs. Keywords: Glutamate dehydrogenase activity, Glutamate synthesis, L-leucine, mTORC1/SIRT4 pathway, Pig liver