Clearing-factor lipase in adipose tissue. Distinction of different states of the enzyme and the possible role of the fat cell in the maintenance of tissue activity

1. Incubation of intact epididymal adipose tissue from fed rats at 37 degrees in an albumin solution at pH7.4 in vitro results in rapid loss of clearing-factor lipase activity until a low activity, stable to prolonged incubation, is attained. The clearing-factor lipase activity of intact tissue from starved rats, which is initially much less than that of tissue from fed rats, is mainly stable to incubation at 37 degrees . 2. Much of the clearing-factor lipase activity of intact epididymal adipose tissue from fed rats is inactivated by collagenase. The enzyme activity of intact tissue from starved rats is not inactivated by collagenase. 3. The clearing-factor lipase activity of fat cells isolated from the epididymal adipose tissue of fed rats is stable to prolonged incubation at 37 degrees . It represents only a small proportion of the total activity of the intact tissue. In starved rats, the isolated fat cells contain a much higher proportion of the activity of the intact tissue. Their activity is also stable at 37 degrees . 4. Incubation of isolated fat cells in a serum-based medium leads to a progressive rise in clearing-factor lipase activity. Actinomycin increases the extent of this rise in activity. No rise in clearing-factor lipase activity occurs when stromal-vascular cells isolated from epididymal adipose tissue are incubated in the medium. 5. The findings indicate that less than 20% of the activity of intact adipose tissue from fed rats is retained when fat cells are isolated from the tissue by collagenase treatment. The activity that is lost could be that which normally functions in the uptake of triglyceride fatty acids by the tissue.     

Clearing-factor lipase in adipose tissue. Studies with puromycin and actinomycin

1. When adipose tissue from starved rats is incubated in a medium containing glucose, insulin, heparin and actinomycin (5mug./ml.) the total clearing-factor lipase activity of the system increases at least tenfold over a period of 9hr. In the absence of actinomycin, enzyme activity also increases, but to a lesser extent and for only about 3hr. Some enzyme activity appears in the incubation medium in both the presence and the absence of actinomycin. 2. When the glucose and insulin of the incubation medium are replaced by pyruvate and heparin is omitted, an increase in the total clearing-factor lipase activity in the presence of actinomycin still occurs, but only after a lag of several hours. When only heparin is omitted from the medium, the rise in enzyme activity begins immediately, but there is a shoulder in the time-course curve after a few hours. In the absence of heparin, little enzyme activity appears in the incubation medium. 3. The increases in enzyme activity in the presence of actinomycin are prevented if puromycin (0.5mg./ml.) is present in the incubation medium. 4. Catecholamines and corticotrophin inhibit the increase in enzyme activity caused by actinomycin. 5. The clearing-factor lipase activity of adipose tissue from fed animals declines with a half-life of between 1 and 1.5hr. when the tissue is incubated in the presence of puromycin. The clearing-factor lipase activity of adipose tissue from starved animals is stable under similar circumstances, as is the raised activity found after such tissue has been incubated in the presence of actinomycin. 6. Clearing-factor lipase extracted from adipose tissue of fed animals is less stable in solution than that extracted from the tissue of starved animals after this has been incubated in the presence of actinomycin.     

The clearing-factor lipase activity of isolated fat-cells.

1. When fat-cells are isolated from the epididymal adipose tissue of 24h-starved rats and incubated at 25 degrees C in the presence of dialysed serum, glucose, insulin, amino acids and heparin, the total clearing-factor lipase acitivity of the incubation system increases progressively over a period of several hours. 2. All of the increase in activity is accounted for by the appearance of enzyme in the appearance of enzyme in the incubation medium and the fat-cell activity does not change significantly. Cycloheximids, at a concentration that prevents protein synthesis, does not affect the appearance of enzyme in the incubation medium, but the fat-cell enzyme activity is decreased in its presence. 3. The magnitude of the increase in total clearing factor lipase activity is unaffected by the omission of heparin from the medium. However, less enzyme is extracted in tis absence and the fat-cell activity increases. Cycloheximide again only affects the rise in cell activity and does not alter the activity in the incubation medium. 4. When serum in the incubation medium is replaced by casein, the distribution of enzyme between the cells and the medium is changed, but the magnitudes of the increases in total enzyme activity are similar. 5. These characteristics of the clearing-factor lipase response of isolated fat-cells differ in several respects from those observed earlier with intact adipose tissue from 24h-starved rats (Robinson & Wing, 1971; Cryer et al., 1973). The differences could be due, in part, to changes in the relative amounts of two different molecular forms of the enzyme that occur during the isolation of the fat-cells.     

Clearing-factor lipase in adipose tissue. A medium in which the enzyme activity of tissue from starved rats increases in vitro

1. When epididymal fat bodies from starved rats are incubated for 3.5hr. at 37 degrees in a defined medium in vitro the total clearing-factor lipase activity rises to approximately twice its initial value. 2. During the incubation period part of the tissue clearing-factor lipase activity appears in the medium. 3. Heparin, glucose, insulin, and HCO(3) (-) and K(+) ions are shown to be important medium constituents.     

Clearing-factor lipase in adipose tissue. A possible role of adenosine 3′,5′-(cyclic)-monophosphate in the regulation of its activity

1. The rise in clearing-factor lipase activity that occurs when epididymal fat bodies from starved rats are incubated in appropriate media in vitro is inhibited in the presence of 6-N-2'-O-dibutyryl-3',5'-(cyclic)-AMP (1mm). 2. Inhibition occurs at a concentration of glucose in the incubation medium of 1.3mg./ml. or less, but not at a glucose concentration of 2.4mg./ml., unless caffeine (1mm), an inhibitor of 3',5'-(cyclic)-nucleotide phosphodiesterase, is also present. Caffeine (5mm) alone inhibits the rise in clearing-factor lipase activity at a glucose concentration of 2.4mg./ml. of medium. 3. The concentration of free fatty acids in the epididymal fat bodies normally falls during incubations in vitro as the rise in clearing-factor lipase activity occurs. In the presence of 1mm-6-N-2'-O-dibutyryl-3',5'-(cyclic)-AMP, however, either the tissue free fatty acid concentration is increased or it does not fall to the same extent. The concentration of glucose in the incubation medium is important in determining the direction and extent of the changes in tissue free fatty acid concentration that occur in the presence of 6-N-2'-O-dibutyryl-3',5'-(cyclic)-AMP. 4. Free fatty acid concentrations in epididymal fat bodies in vivo rise as the clearing-factor lipase activity of the tissue falls during starvation. 5. The possibility that the concentration of 3',5'-(cyclic)-AMP in adipose tissue may regulate clearing-factor lipase activity, and that the regulation may occur through effects of the nucleotide on tissue free fatty acid concentrations, is discussed.     

The effect of cycloheximide on adipose-tissue clearing-factor lipase (Short Communication)

The progressive increase in clearing-factor lipase activity that occurs during the incubation of adipose tissue from starved rats in an appropriate medium at 25 degrees C is shown to occur in two stages. The first of these is not inhibited by cycloheximide, whereas the second is.     

Changes with starvation in the rat of the lipoprotein lipase activity and hydrolysis of triacylglycerols from triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins in adipose tissue preparations.

Lipoprotein lipase activity was higher in fat-pad pieces than in isolated adipocytes from the same fed rats, whereas hydrolysis of triacylglycerols from triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins was similar in the two preparations when incubated either in basal conditions or in the presence of heparin. In both preparations there was a similar release of lipoprotein lipase activity into the medium during basal incubation, enhanced by the presence of heparin. In fat-pad pieces, but not in isolated adipocytes, incubation with heparin produced a decrease in the lipoprotein lipase activity measured in the tissue preparation. In fat-pad pieces from 24 h-starved rats, lipoprotein lipase activity was the same as in isolated adipocytes from the same animals and incubation with heparin did not affect the appearance of lipoprotein lipase in the medium or the utilization of triacylglycerols from triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins. These results support the following conclusions. (1) The effectiveness of lipoprotein lipase in adipose tissue preparations in vitro depends more on its availability to the substrate than on its total activity. (2) Heparin acts on adipose tissue preparations from fed animals both by enhancing the release of pre-existing extracellular enzyme (which is absent in isolated adipocytes) and by enhancing the transfer outside the cells of the intracellular (and mainly undetectable) enzyme that is activated in the secretion process. (3) In adipose tissue from starved animals there is not only a decrease in the active extracellular form of lipoprotein lipase activity but also a reduction in the intracellular (and mainly undetectable) pool of the enzyme.     

Stability of clearing-factor lipase in rat adipose tissue (Short Communication)

The stability at 42°C of clearing-factor lipase in adipose tissue, and in intact fat-cells isolated from it, was investigated. That portion of the total activity of the tissue which is associated with the fat-cell is stable under such conditions. This stability is markedly diminished when the fat-cell is disrupted.     

Increased lipoprotein lipase content in the adipose tissue of suckling and weaning obese Zucker rats.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the increase in lipoprotein lipase activity displayed by the adipose tissue of obese (fa/fa) rats as compared with that of lean (Fa/fa) rats could be ascribed to a change in the content or in the catalytic properties of the enzyme. The question was addressed in rats of two ages: in 7-day-old suckling and in 30-day-old post-weaning pups. Inguinal fat-pads were removed surgically (7 days of age) or after killing (30 days of age), and acetone-extract powders were prepared. The relative quantity of enzyme was assessed by immunotitration using an antiserum raised in goat against purified lipoprotein lipase from rat adipose tissue. The results indicate that increases in enzyme activity in obese animals were strictly paralleled by increases in the amount of enzyme in suckling as well as in post-weaning pups. Moreover, the apparent Km values of lipoprotein lipase for its substrate triacylglycerol were identical in the two genotypes. In conclusion, the genotype-mediated increase in lipoprotein lipase activity in adipose tissue of obese Zucker rats was fully accounted for by an increase in the content of the enzyme. In addition, this work documents the mechanism of the increase in lipoprotein lipase activity during weaning, which is mediated mainly through changes in the adipose-tissue enzyme content.     

Changes in the lipoprotein lipase (clearing-factor lipase) activity of white adipose tissue during development of the rat.

The lipoprotein lipase (clearing-factor lipase) activity of the white adipose tissue from rats aged between 1 and 145 days was determined. Five adipose-tissue sites (epididymal, uterine, subcutaneous, perirenal and intramuscular) together with serum concentrations of triacylglycerol, cholesterol and glucose were studied. The pattern of enzyme-activity change was remarkably similar in all the sites studied, although the growth of the tissues proceeded non-uniformly. After a peak of activity early in suckling, lipoprotein lipase activity fell to low values by 20 days of age. At weaning (21 days) the activity increased sharply and within 5 days high values were regained. The serum triacylglycerol and cholesterol concentrations were low at birth and reached peaks of concentration coincidentally with the minima of white-adipose-tissue lipoprotein lipase activities, seen late in suckling. The changes in enzyme activity were related to other metabolic changes in adipose tissue and with the known changes in plasma insulin concentrations occurring during development.     

The significance of changes in tissue clearing-factor lipase activity in relation to the lipaemia of pregnancy

1. The concentration of triglyceride fatty acid in the plasma of the pregnant rat rises to a maximum 2-4 days before parturition. Thereafter there is a rapid decline in the concentration to near normal values at parturition. 2. A similar increase occurs in animals fed on a diet low in fat. There is no increase in food consumption at the time when the triglyceride fatty acid concentration in the plasma is at its peak. 3. Rates of entry of triglyceride fatty acid into the blood during pregnancy have been estimated from the rate of accumulation of triglyceride in the plasma of animals injected with a non-ionic detergent, Triton. A progressive increase occurs in the entry rate as the body weight increases throughout pregnancy. Expressed per constant body weight, the entry rate does not change significantly. 4. Adipose-tissue clearing-factor lipase activity is low at the time when the plasma triglyceride fatty acid concentration is raised. Activity of the enzyme in heart, lung and diaphragm is unchanged. 5. It is suggested that the ;lipaemia of pregnancy' may be due to diminished uptake of triglyceride fatty acids by adipose tissue, and, further, that the disappearance of the lipaemia may be due to increased uptake of triglyceride fatty acids by the mammary gland.     

Lipoprotein lipase and lipogenic enzyme activities in adipose tissue from rats fed different lipid sources

This work was designed to study the effect of different lipid sources on the activities of lipoprotein lipase and lipogenic enzymes in adipose tissue from rats fedad libitum or energy-controlled diets. Male Wistar rats were fed diets containing 40% of energy as fat (olive oil, sunflower oil, palm oil or beef tallow), for 4 wk. Underad libitum feeding no differences were found among dietary fat groups in final body weight, adipose tissue weights and total body fat. Under energy-controlled feeding, despite isoenergetic intake, rats fed the beef tallow diet gained significantly less weight than rats fed the other three diets. Beef tallow fed rats showed the lowest values for adipose tissue weights and total body fat. When rats had free access to food no effect of dietary lipid source on lipogenic enzyme activities was found. In contrast, under energy-controlled feeding rats fed the beef tallow diet showed significantly higher activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and fatty acid synthase than rats fed the other three diets. Heparin-releasable lipoprotein lipase activity in perirenal and subcutaneous adipose tissues was not different among rats fed olive oil, safflower oil, palm oil or beef tallow. When comparing both adipose tissue anatomical locations, significantly higher activities were found in subcutaneous than in perirenal fat pad independently of dietary fat. In conclusion, under our experimental protocol, lipogenesis in rat adipose tissue does not seem to be affected by dietary fat type.     

Acute changes in triacylglycerol lipase activity of human adipose tissue during exercise

Although physical exercise is known to increase adipose tissue lipolysis, its effect on the activity of triacylglycerol (TG) lipase, the enzyme regulating TG breakdown, is not known. The aim of the present study was to monitor the acute changes in TG lipase activity of adipose tissue induced during moderate exercise. For this purpose a new assay, sensitive to the phosphorylation state of the enzyme, was developed. Ten young sedentary men cycled for 30 min at a heart rate of 120-130 beats min(-1). Needle adipose tissue biopsy was performed from the buttock area at rest, at 5, 15, and 30 min of exercise, as well as at 15 min of passive recovery. Five other men served as controls by being biopsied as above without exercising. TG lipase activity was determined by measuring the decrease of endogenous TG concentration during incubation of the homogenized tissue. TG lipase activity increased 6.4-fold above baseline at 5 min of exercise (P < 0.001) and fell gradually afterwards, whereas it did not change significantly in the control group. In conclusion, our data show that TG lipase activity in human adipose tissue peaks early during exercise and subsequently decreases despite the maintenance of the physical stimulus.     

Intra- and extracellular forms of lipoprotein lipase in adipose tissue.

The location of lipoprotein lipase activity in rat adipose tissue was studied using intact epididymal fat pads, isolated adipocytes, and lipoprotein lipase activity secreted from adipocytes as enzyme sources. The enzyme activities of these preparations were characterized by gel filtration. The method used for isolation of adipocytes had been modified to minimize activation of lipoprotein lipase during the procedures. Extracts of intact adipose tissue separated into two major lipoprotein lipase activity peaks, designated "a" and "b", the "a" fraction representing about 30 (fasted rats) to 50% (fed rats) of the total enzyme activity. An intermediate fraction (designated "i") was frequently observed. Extracts of isolated adipocytes from fed rats contained about 35% and those from fasted rats about 65% of the lipoprotein lipase activity present in intact tissue. The "b" fraction constituted 80--97% of the adipocyte lipoprotein lipase activity. In contrast, the enzyme activity secreted from the adipocytes contained only the "a" and "i" fractions. These data implicate the existance of one intracellular form of lipoprotein lipase (corresponding to the "b" fraction), different from extracellular forms of the enzyme (corresponding to fractions "a" and "i"). A transformation of the intracellular to the extracellular forms appears to occur in conjunction with secretion of enzyme from the fat cell.     

Stimulation of the hormone-sensitive triacylglycerol lipase from adipose tissue by phosphatidylethanolamine

The activity of a pigeon adipose tissue hormone-sensitive triacylglycerol lipase preparation was increased from 2- to 5-fold by the presence of phosphatidylethanolamine in assays with three different methods of preparing triolein substrates. Phosphatidylethanolamine from egg yolk produced the greatest stimulation of lipase activity; the stimulation was concentration-dependent but was not time-dependent. A comparable increase in triacylglycerol lipase activity due to phosphatidylethanolamine was also observed with enzyme preparations from chicken and rat adipose tissue. Phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidic acid, cardiolipin, sphingomyelin, Triton X-100 and sodium dodecyl sulfate all inhibited enzyme activity. Phosphatidylethanolamine had no effect on acid lipase activity in the pigeon adipose tissue preparation. Preincubation of the pigeon adipose tissue lipase with ATP, cyclic AMP and protein kinase resulted in a 2.15-fold activation of hydrolase activity determined in the absence of phosphatidylethanolamine. In contrast, non-activated and protein kinase-activated forms of the lipase were characterized as having very nearly the same activity in assays with substrate preparations containing phosphatidylethanolamine. The phosphatidylethanolamine-dependent stimulation of lipase activity was characterized kinetically as being due to an increase in maximal velocity. The modulation of the adipose tissue hormone-sensitive lipase activity by phospholipids could be involved in the hormonal regulation of lipolysis.     

Effect of glutamate on the control of fatty-acid synthesis in white adipose tissue of the rat. Inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase.

Glutamate (5mM) inhibited glucose conversion to fatty acids by approximately one-third in adipocytes from fed rats. This inhibition was significantly less in the pressence of pyruvate or 2-oxoglutarate. After incubation of adipose tissue from fed rats with glucose and insulin, pyruvate dehydrogenase activity was 180 plus or minus 17 mU/g wet weight. Addition of glutamine to the incubation medium decreased this activity significantly (118 plus or minus 14 mU/g wet weight). This inhibition by glutamate was also diminished when 2-oxoglutarate or pyruvate were present. Glutamate added to homohentates of adipose tissue had no effect on the activation of pyruvate dehydrogenase by Mg-2+. However, glutamate inhibited the active form of the enzyme and enhanced the rate of inactivation of the enzyme complex by ATP and Mg-2+. Aminooxyacetate, a transaminase inhibitor, did not reverse the effects of glutamate on pyruvate dehydrogenase nor fatty acid synthesis.     

Carnitine and brown adipose tissue metabolism in the rat during development

1. The content of carnitine, acylcarnitine and total acid soluble carnitine in brown adipose tissue of rats increases rapidly after birth, attaining a peak on about day 10 and then decreases. Similar changes with age were found for carnitine acetyltransferase activity in mitochondria from brown adipose tissue and heart. The activity of this enzyme in brain and in liver is much smaller, but also increases postnatally. 2. The activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase in brown adipose tissue, however, decreases after birth then increases later in life. 3. Exposure of 18-day-old rats to the cold for 20 days leads to an increase in carnitine content in brown adipose tissue and raises the activity of carnitine acetyltransferase. The activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase is not affected by cold adaptation.     

Colchicine inhibition of the heparin-stimulated release of clearing-factor lipase from isolated fat-cells.

When isolated fat-cells are incubated at 25 degrees C in serum-based media containing glucose, insulin and heparin, the rise that occurs in the clearing-factor lipase activity of the incubation medium is inhibited by colchicine. The rise in the fat-cell clearing-factor lipase activity that occurs during similar incubations in the absence of heparin is not affected by colchicine.     

Effects of glycerol on human adipose tissue triglyceride lipase activity

Glycerol fully protects the human adipose tissue triglyceride lipase against the denaturing effects of high and low temperatures. Under such protection, storage of crude preparations at -10 degrees C or incubation at 50 degrees C resulted in a 1.5-3-fold increase of the measured lipase activity. This increase was shown to be related to enzyme newly released from tissular microparticles present in the samples. Advantage may be taken of these observations to improve greatly the conditions of extraction and storage of this lipase activity.     

Enzymes catalyzing the hydrolysis of long-chain monoacyglycerols in rat adipose tissue

Acetone-ether preparations of epididymal fat pads from fasted or fed rats contained two enzymes catalyzing the hydrolysis of long-chain monoacylglycerols. The enzymes were identified as monoacylglycerol lipase (Tornqvist, H. and Belfrage, P., (1976) J. Biol Chem. 251, 813--819) and lipoprotein lipase by their apparent pI values after electrofocusing in non-ionic detergent, selective inhibition properties, substrate specificity and positional specificity. It was estimated that monoacylglycerol lipase accounted for about 90% of the total monoacylglycerol-hydrolyzing activity in acetone-ether preparations from fasted and 70% from fed rats. Its enzyme activity did not change with the nutritional state in contrast to that of lipoprotein lipase. The latter enzyme hydrolyzed 2-monoacylglycerols at a much lower rate than the 1(3)-isomers. Monoacylglycerol lipase was located almost entirely in the adipocytes, thus most of the enzyme activity towards monoacylglycerols in the adipose tissue was found in this site. Fractionated sucrose homogenates of rat epididymal fat pads also contained a third enzyme with monoacylglycerol-hydrolyzing activity, identified as hormone-sensitive lipase by its pI, selective inhibition properties and substrate specificity. It was estimated that hormone-sensitive lipase accounted for less than 20% of the total activity against monoacylglycerols in these tissue preparations from fasted rats. Over-all quantitative estimations emphasized the dominant role of monoacylglycerol lipase over the other two enzymes in the hydrolysis of monoacylglycerols.