Adipose glycerol kinase: low molecular weight protein has two Michaelis constants for glycerol.

Using the improved methods, it was found that glycerol kinase activity is not only higher in adipose tissue than previously reported, but more importantly, the enzyme shows two Kms with respect to glycerol.One of the Kms is in the micromolar range, while the other is in the millimolar range. The different distribution of the two Km activities in ammonium sulfate fractions, and the preferential inactivation of the high Km enzyme by heat and acid pH, suggest that the two Km activities may correspond to two different molecular species. The apparent molecular weight of the enzyme is 54,000 – 58,000 as determined by gel filtration.