Adjustment of K' to varying pH and pMg for the creatine kinase, adenylate kinase and ATP hydrolysis equilibria permitting quantitative bioenergetic assessment

Physiologists and biochemists frequently ignore the importance of adjusting equilibrium constants to the ionic conditions of the cell prior to calculating a number of bioenergetic and kinetic parameters. The present study examines the effect of pH and free magnesium levels (free [Mg2+]) on the apparent equilibrium constants (K') of creatine kinase (ATP: creatine N-phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.3.2), adenylate kinase (ATP:AMP phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.4.3) and adenosinetriphosphatase (ATP phosphohydrolase; EC 3.6.1.3) reactions. We show how K' can be calculated using the equilibrium constant of a specified chemical reaction (Kref) and the appropriate acid-dissociation and Mg(2+)-binding constants at an ionic strength (I) of 0.25 mol l-1 and 38 degrees C. Substituting the experimentally determined intracellular pH and free [Mg2+] into the equation containing a known Kref and two variables, pH and free [Mg2+], enables K' to be calculated at the experimental ionic conditions. Knowledge of K' permits calculation of cytosolic phosphorylation ratio ([ATP]/[ADP][Pi]), cytosolic free [ADP], free [AMP], standard transformed Gibbs energy of formation (delta fG' degrees ATP) and the transformed Gibbs energy of the system (delta fG' ATP) for the biological system. Such information is vital for the quantification of organ and tissue bioenergetics under physiological and pathophysiological conditions.