This article is available online at http://www.jlr.org many constituents present in intestinal lumen, including bile salts, phospholipids, cholesterol esters, dietary proteins, and carbohydrates, inhibit PTL, another pancreatic protein, colipase, is required for PTL activity ( 2 ).Hence, colipase plays an important role in dietary fat digestion. Colipase is predominantly expressed in the exocrine pancreas and, to a lesser degree, in the stomach and intestine. Newly synthesized colipase contains a 17 amino acid signal peptide and a 5 amino acid propiece at the N-terminus. The propiece is cleaved from procolipase to form colipase and releases a pentapeptide named enterostatin ( 3 ). Enterostatin is a satiety factor that reduces voluntary fat intake in animals ( 4 ). Mature colipase is a 10 kDa protein with minimal secondary structure. Five disulfi de bonds determine the folding of colipase and stabilize the loops or fi ngers of colipase ( 5 ) ( Fig. 1 ). The limited secondary structure protects colipase from surface denaturation and accounts for its high stability in adverse environments ( 5 ). Models of colipase function include a lipid-binding surface on the tips of the loops and a PTLbinding surface on the opposite surface. Colipase anchors PTL on the emulsion surface and stabilizes the active conformation of PTL ( 6 ).Analysis of genomic sequence data identifi ed a polymorphism in codon 109 of human colipase gene, resulting in an arginine-to-cysteine substitution at position 92 (Arg92Cys) of procolipase. Several studies have reported that the Arg92Cys substitution in colipase increased the odds risk for developing type-2 diabetes in two independent Caucasian populations ( 7, 8 ). The authors speculated that the polymorphism contributes to increased susceptibility for type-2 diabetes by infl uencing postprandial serum triglyceride levels or by altering lipoprotein metabolism. No direct evidence supports either of these hypotheses. In Western diets, triglycerides constitute 95% of dietary fats and provide 30-40% of total caloric intake. Prior to absorption, triglycerides must be hydrolyzed to free fatty acids or monoglycerides by the concerted action of lipases ( 1 ). The majority of fatty acids are released in the duodenum by pancreatic triglyceride lipase (PTL Abbreviations: Arg92, arginine 92; Arg92Cys, arginine-to-cysteine substitution at position 92; Cys92, cysteine 92; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; NaTDC, sodium taurodeoxycholate; PDI, protein disulfi de isomerase; PTL, pancreatic triglyceride lipase; UPR, unfolded protein response; Xbp1, X-box binding protein-1.