The mobilization of free fatty acids from adipose triacylglycerol (TG) stores requires the activities of triacylglycerol lipases. In this study, we demonstrate that adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) are the major enzymes contributing to TG breakdown in in vitro assays and in organ cultures of murine white adipose tissue (WAT). To differentiate between ATGL-and HSL-specific activities in cytosolic preparations of WAT and to determine the relative contribution of these TG hydrolases to the lipolytic catabolism of fat, mutant mouse models lacking ATGL or HSL and a mono-specific, small molecule inhibitor for HSL (76-0079) were used. We show that 76-0079 had no effect on TG catabolism in HSL-deficient WAT but, in contrast, essentially abolished free fatty acid mobilization in ATGL-deficient fat. CGI-58, a recently identified coactivator of ATGL, stimulates TG hydrolase activity in wild-type and HSL-deficient WAT but not in ATGL-deficient WAT, suggesting that ATGL is the sole target for CGI-58-mediated activation of adipose lipolysis. Together, ATGL and HSL are responsible for more than 95% of the TG hydrolase activity present in murine WAT. Additional known or unknown lipases appear to play only a quantitatively minor role in fat cell lipolysis. Fatty acids deposited as triacylglycerol (TG)3 in white adipose tissue (WAT) represent the primary energy store in animals. In periods of increased energy demand, TG is hydrolyzed, and free fatty acids (FFA) are released into the circulation. The hydrolysis of TG is catalyzed by adipose tissue lipases in sequential steps leading to the formation of FFA and glycerol. The first step within the hydrolysis cascade generating FFA and diacylglycerol (DG) is rate-limiting for subsequent reactions.

BackgroundType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by defects in insulin secretion and action. Impaired glucose uptake in skeletal muscle is believed to be one of the earliest features in the natural history of T2DM, although underlying mechanisms remain obscure.Methods and FindingsWe combined human insulin/glucose clamp physiological studies with genome-wide expression profiling to identify thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP) as a gene whose expression is powerfully suppressed by insulin yet stimulated by glucose. In healthy individuals, its expression was inversely correlated to total body measures of glucose uptake. Forced expression of TXNIP in cultured adipocytes significantly reduced glucose uptake, while silencing with RNA interference in adipocytes and in skeletal muscle enhanced glucose uptake, confirming that the gene product is also a regulator of glucose uptake. TXNIP expression is consistently elevated in the muscle of prediabetics and diabetics, although in a panel of 4,450 Scandinavian individuals, we found no evidence for association between common genetic variation in the TXNIP gene and T2DM.ConclusionsTXNIP regulates both insulin-dependent and insulin-independent pathways of glucose uptake in human skeletal muscle. Combined with recent studies that have implicated TXNIP in pancreatic β-cell glucose toxicity, our data suggest that TXNIP might play a key role in defective glucose homeostasis preceding overt T2DM.

Monoglyceride lipase catalyzes the last step in the hydrolysis of stored triglycerides in the adipocyte and presumably also complements the action of lipoprotein lipase in degrading triglycerides from chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins. Monoglyceride lipase was cloned from a mouse adipocyte cDNA library. The predicted amino acid sequence consisted of 302 amino acids, corresponding to a molecular weight of 33,218. The sequence showed no extensive homology to other known mammalian proteins, but a number of microbial proteins, including two bacterial lysophospholipases and a family of haloperoxidases, were found to be distantly related to this enzyme. By means of multiple sequence alignment and secondary structure prediction, the structural elements in monoglyceride lipase, as well as the putative catalytic triad, were identified. The residues of the proposed triad, Ser-122, in a GXSXG motif, Asp-239, and His-269, were confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis experiments. Northern blot analysis revealed that monoglyceride lipase is ubiquitously expressed among tissues, with a transcript size of about 4 kilobases.The sequential hydrolysis of stored triglycerides in adipose tissue is the result of a combined action of two lipases, hormone-sensitive lipase and monoglyceride lipase (MGL 1 ; EC 3.1.1.23). Hormone-sensitive lipase catalyzes the first and ratelimiting step, the hydrolysis of triglycerides, and also the subsequent hydrolysis of di-and monoglycerides (1). Hormonesensitive lipase has a marked, although not absolute, preference for the primary ester bond of glyceride substrates. It has been shown that MGL is required to obtain a complete degradation of monoglycerides to fatty acids and glycerol, i.e. in the absence of MGL there is an accumulation of monoglycerides (mainly 2-monoglycerides) (2). The main physiological role for MGL is probably to assure complete hydrolysis of monoglycerides formed during the lipolysis of stored triglycerides of the adipocyte. Another role for the enzyme could be to catalyze the hydrolysis of 2-monoglycerides formed as a result of lipoprotein lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of triglycerides from chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins. Lipoprotein lipase has monoglyceride-hydrolyzing activity, with an absolute preference for the primary ester bond (3). This lipase could therefore catalyze the hydrolysis of 1(3)-monoglycerides, which are formed through isomerization from 2-monoglycerides. However, since the rate of isomerization at pH 7.4 is low, it is more likely that a substantial fraction of the 2-monoglycerides, formed through the action of lipoprotein lipase, is transported into the adipocyte and hydrolyzed by MGL (4). It should be pointed out that besides these two enzymes, there is no evidence for any other monoglyceride-hydrolyzing activity of adipose tissue.MGL has been extensively purified from rat adipose tissue in our laboratory (5). The limited amounts of purified enzyme obtained have been used to study some of its enzymological and biochemical propertie...

The human Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS) preadipocyte cell strain provides a unique and useful tool for studies of human adipocyte biology. The cells originate from an adipose tissue specimen of a patient with SGBS. They are neither transformed nor immortalized, and provide an almost unlimited source due to their ability to proliferate for up to 50 generations with retained capacity for adipogenic differentiation. So far, the cells have been used for a number of studies on adipose differentiation, adipocyte glucose uptake, lipolysis, apoptosis, regulation of expression of adipokines, and protein translocation. The cells are efficiently differentiated in the presence of PPARγagonists and in the absence of serum and albumin. SGBS adipocytes respond to insulin stimulation by increasing glucose uptake several-fold (EC50 approximately 100 pmol/l), and by very effectively inhibiting (IC50 approximately 10 pmol/l) catecholamine-stimulated lipolysis.