Abstract
Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) plays a key role in lipid metabolism and overall energy homoeostasis, by controlling the release of fatty acids from stored triglycerides in adipose tissue. Lipases and esterases form a protein superfamily with a common structural fold, called the alpha/beta-hydrolase fold, and a catalytic triad of serine, aspartic or glutamic acid and histidine. Previous alignments between HSL and lipase 2 of Moraxella TA144 have been extended to cover a much larger part of the HSL sequence. From these extended alignments, possible sites for the catalytic triad and alpha/beta-hydrolase fold are suggested. Furthermore, it is proposed that HSL contains a structural domain with catalytic capacity and a regulatory module attached, as well as a structural N-terminal domain unique to this enzyme. In order to test the proposed domain structure, rat HSL was overexpressed and purified to homogeneity using a baculovirus/insect-cell expression system. The purification, resulting in > 99% purity, involved detergent solubilization followed by anion-exchange chromatography and hydrophobic-interaction chromatography. The purified recombinant enzyme was identical to rat adipose-tissue HSL with regard to specific activity, substrate specificity and ability to serve as a substrate for cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The recombinant HSL was subjected to denaturation by guanidine hydrochloride and limited proteolysis. These treatments resulted in more extensive loss of activity against phospholipid-stabilized lipid substrates than against water-soluble substrates, suggesting that the hydrolytic activity can be separated from recognition of lipid substrates. These data support the concept that HSL has at least two major domains.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 411-420 |
Journal | Biochemical Journal |
Volume | 319 |
Issue number | Pt 2 |
Publication status | Published - 1996 |
Bibliographical note
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015.The record was previously connected to the following departments: Department of Experimental Medical Science (013210000), Insulin Signal Transduction (013212014), Experimental Clinical Chemistry (013016010), Molecular Endocrinology (013212018)
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology