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Introduction
L. BRUCE GLADDEN
Department of Kinesiology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
ABSTRACT
muscles are placed in O2-rich environments, Laj disappears. Subsequently, Laj took center stage with the work of
A.V. Hill (9) and the paradigm that Laj was the immediate
energy donor for muscle contraction.
A revolution in muscle physiology (10) occurred
between 1926 and 1932 with the discoveries of both
adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PC);
this period could be called the Phosphagen Era. Based on
his own work and that of others, Lohmann (1517)
postulated that ATP hydrolysis was the immediate source
of energy for muscle contraction and that PC was used to
resynthesize ATP in the creatine kinase reaction (1). Direct
evidence of ATP breakdown during contractions did not
become available until about 30 yr later. Credit for this
proof usually goes to Cain and Davies (5), who inhibited
creatine kinase in muscles with the poison 1,fluoro-2,4dinitrobenzene (FDNB) and then immediately froze the
muscles after a series of contractions. Under these conditions in which ATP resynthesis from PC was prevented, a
decline in ATP concentration was observed. Notably, Lange
(13) had reported similar results 7 yr earlier. The reason for
the difficulty in obtaining absolute evidence of ATP
hydrolysis in muscle contractions is the incredibly rapid
kinetics of the creatine kinase reaction (1). Lardy`s group
(12) calculated that all of the ATP in a rabbit skeletal
muscle could be resynthesized from ADP and PC in only 30
ms (1), thus preventing detection of ATP breakdown unless
the creatine kinase reaction were blocked.
Given the association between Laj, O2, and fatigue
(dating from Fletcher and Hopkins (7) and A.V. Hill (9)),
and the removal of Laj from its eminent position as the
immediate energy donor for muscle contraction, it is no
475
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BASIC SCIENCES
GLADDEN, L. B. Current Trends in Lactate Metabolism: Introduction. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 475476, 2008. In
September 2006, at the Integrative Physiology of Exercise meeting in Indianapolis, IN, a symposium entitled Current Trends in
Lactate Metabolism was presented. This short paper introduces two papers from that symposium. The first paper by L. Bruce Gladden
briefly summarizes key pieces of evidence that support the cell-to-cell lactate shuttle, a concept that is no longer an hypothesis but that,
instead, is now an established theory that provides the context for discussions of whole body metabolism. Gladden also offers a critical
appraisal of the intracellular lactate shuttle and evaluates an ongoing controversy relative to the role of lactate in acidbase balance. In
the second paper, Hashimoto and Brooks provide their evidence in support of the intracellular lactate shuttle and a lactate oxidation
complex in the inner mitochondrial membrane. They also postulate that lactate is a cell-signaling molecule, lactormone, that can
upregulate gene and protein expression. Both papers have been updated since their original presentations and represent the current
state of knowledge. Key Words: LACTATE HISTORY, LACTATE SHUTTLE, CELL-TO-CELL LACTATE SHUTTLE,
INTRACELLULAR LACTATE SHUTTLE, LACTATE OXIDATION COMPLEX, LACTIC ACIDOSIS
BASIC SCIENCES
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