(LPL) in cardiac and vascular pathology, the objective of the present study was to investigate whether the -agonist isoproterenol (Iso) influences cardiac LPL. Incubation of quiescent cardiomyocytes with Iso for 60 min had no effect on basal, intracellular, or heparin-releasable (HR)-LPL activity. Similarly, Iso did not change HR-LPL in Langendorff isolated hearts that do not beat against an afterload. In the intact animal, LPL activity at the vascular lumen increased significantly in the Isotreated group, together with a substantial increase in rate-pressure product. This LPL increase was likely via mechanisms regulated by activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and inactivation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC280). In glucose-perfused hearts, simply switching from Langendorff to the isolated working heart (that beats against an afterload) induced increases in AMPK and ACC280 phosphorylation and enhanced HR-LPL activity. Provision of insulin and albumin-bound palmitic acid to the working heart was able to reverse these effects. In these hearts, introduction of Iso to the buffer perfusate duplicated the effects seen when this -agonist was given in vivo. Our data suggest that Iso can influence HR-LPL only during conditions of increased workload, mechanical performance and excessive energy expenditure, and likely in an AMPK-dependent manner.isoproterenol; acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase; cardiomyocyte; Langendorff heart; working heart; adenosine 3Ј,5Ј-monophosphate-activated protein kinase; lipoprotein lipase CARDIAC CONTRACTILITY REQUIRES an uninterrupted supply of ATP. Under normal physiological conditions, the heart utilizes two major substrates, glucose and fatty acids (FA; see Ref. 51). Compared with glucose, FA is the preferred substrate and accounts for ϳ70% of ATP production. However, the heart has the ability to choose its substrates depending on their availability and the prevailing physiological (e.g., exercise) or pathophysiological (e.g., ischemia) conditions. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is likely a key player in modulating this substrate selection. Thus, during exercise (when ATP expenditure is augmented) or ischemia (when manufacture of ATP is hindered), changes in intracellular AMP/ATP levels promote threonine (Thr 172 ) phosphorylation and activation of AMPK (22,25). Upon stimulation, AMPK switches off energy-consuming processes like triglyceride (TG) and protein synthesis, whereas ATP-generating mechanisms are turned on (21, 26). In heart and skeletal muscle, phosphorylated AMPK stimulates glucose uptake (23, 55) and subsequent glycolysis through the activation of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (38). More importantly, through its control of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), AMPK facilitates FA oxidation (31, 32). AMPK has also been implicated in FA delivery to cardiomyocytes through its regulation of the FA transporter, CD36 (36). Finally, results from our laboratory have demonstrated a strong correlation between activation of cardiac AMPK and increases in coronary lumen lipoprotein lipas...