Juan Antonio Contreras

Perilipin A is essential for the translocation of hormone-sensitive lipase during lipolytic activation

Akey step in lipolytic activation of adipocytes is the translocation of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) from the cytosol to the surface of the lipid storage droplet. Adipocytes from perilipin-null animals have an elevated basal rate of lipolysis compared with adipocytes from wild-type mice, but fail to respond maximally to lipolytic stimuli. This defect is downstream of the β-adrenergic receptor–adenylyl cyclase complex. Now, we show that HSL is basally associated with lipid droplet surfaces at a low level in perilipin nulls, but that stimulated translocation from the cytosol to lipid droplets is absent in adipocytes derived from embryonic fibroblasts of perilipin-null mice. We have also reconstructed the HSL translocation reaction in the nonadipocyte Chinese hamster ovary cell line by introduction of GFP-tagged HSL with and without perilipin A. On activation of protein kinase A, HSL-GFP translocates to lipid droplets only in cells that express fully phosphorylatable perilipin A, confirming that perilipin is required to elicit the HSL translocation reaction. Moreover, in Chinese hamster ovary cells that express both HSL and perilipin A, these two proteins cooperate to produce a more rapidly accelerated lipolysis than do cells that express either of these proteins alone, indicating that lipolysis is a concerted reaction mediated by both protein kinase A–phosphorylated HSL and perilipin A.

Crystal structure of brefeldin A esterase, a bacterial homolog of the mammalian hormone-sensitive lipase.

Brefeldin A esterase (BFAE), a detoxifying enzyme isolated from Bacillus subtilis, hydrolyzes and inactivates BFA, a potent fungal inhibitor of intracellular vesicle-dependent secretory transport and poliovirus RNA replication. We have solved the crystal structure of BFAE and we discovered that the previously reported amino acid sequence was in serious error due to frame shifts in the cDNA sequence. The correct sequence, inferred from the experimentally phased electron density map, revealed that BFAE is a homolog of the mammalian hormone sensitive lipase (HSL). It is a canonical α/β hydrolase with two insertions forming the substrate binding pocket. The enzyme contains a lipase-like catalytic triad, Ser 202, Asp 308 and His 338, consistent with mutational studies that implicate the homologous Ser 424, Asp 693 and His 723 in the catalytic triad in human HSL.

Mutational Analysis of the Hormone-sensitive Lipase Translocation Reaction in Adipocytes

Lipolysis in adipocytes governs the release of fatty acids for the supply of energy to various tissues of the body. This reaction is mediated by hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), a cytosolic enzyme, and perilipin, which coats the lipid droplet surface in adipocytes. Both HSL and perilipin are substrates for polyphosphorylation by protein kinase A (PKA), and phosphorylation of perilipin is required to induce HSL to translocate from the cytosol to the surface of the lipid droplet, a critical step in the lipolytic reaction (Sztalryd C., Xu, G., Dorward, H., Tansey, J. T., Contreras, J.A, Kimmel, A. R., and Londos, C. (2003) J. Cell Biol. 161, 1093–1103). In the present paper we demonstrate that phosphorylation at one of the two more recently discovered PKA sites within HSL, serines 659 and 660, is also required to effect the translocation reaction. Translocation does not occur when these serines residues are mutated simultaneously to alanines. Also, mutation of the catalytic Ser-423 eliminates HSL translocation, showing that the inactive enzyme does not migrate to the lipid droplet upon PKA activation. Thus, HSL translocation requires the phosphorylation of both HSL and perilipin.

Hormone-sensitive Lipase Is Structurally Related to Acetylcholinesterase, Bile Salt-stimulated Lipase, and Several Fungal Lipases BUILDING OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL FOR THE CATALYTIC DOMAIN OF HORMONE-SENSITIVE LIPASE

Hormone-sensitive lipase is the key enzyme in the mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue, thereby playing a crucial role in the overall energy homeostasis in mammals. Its activity is stimulated by catecholamines through cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of a single serine, a process that is prevented by insulin. This regulatory property is unique to this enzyme among all known lipases and has been acquired during evolution through insertion of a regulatory module into an ancestral lipase. Sequence alignments have failed to detect significant homology between hormone-sensitive lipase and the rest of the mammalian lipases and esterases, to which this enzyme is only very distantly related. In the present work, we report the finding of a remarkable secondary structure homology between hormone-sensitive lipase and the enzymes from a superfamily of esterases and lipases that includes acetylcholinesterase, bile salt-stimulated lipase, and several fungal lipases. This finding, based on the identification of the secondary structure elements in the hormone-sensitive lipase sequence, has allowed us to construct a three-dimensional model for the catalytic domain of hormone-sensitive lipase. The model reveals the topological organization, predicts the components of the catalytic triad, suggests a three-dimensional localization of the regulatory module, and provides a valuable tool for the future study of structural and functional aspects of this metabolically important enzyme.

Expression analysis and chromosomal mapping of a novel human gene, APRIL, encoding an acidic protein rich in leucines

Clone 120041 was selected from the EST database for sequence similarity to DEK and SET proteins rearranged in leukemias. The ends of the cDNA were isolated by RACE technique. The assembled cDNA encodes an LRR-containing protein of 251 amino acids designated APRIL (acidic protein rich in leucines). APRIL has high similarity to human pp32, also named PHAPI (bovine I[PP2A]1), and to rat LANP, respectively. APRIL shows tissue-specific expression as shown by Northern blot analysis. It was localized to 15q25 by FISH.

Identification of essential aspartic acid and histidine residues of hormone-sensitive lipase: apparent residues of the catalytic triad

© Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

The Testicular Form of Hormone-sensitive Lipase HSLtes Confers Rescue of Male Infertility in HSL-deficient Mice

Inactivation of the hormone-sensitive lipase gene (HSL) confers male sterility with a major defect in spermatogenesis. Several forms of HSL are expressed in testis. HSLtes mRNA and protein are found in early and elongated spermatids, respectively. The other forms are expressed in diploid germ cells and interstitial cells of the testis. To determine whether the absence of the testis-specific form of HSL, HSLtes, was responsible for the infertility in HSL-null mice, we generated transgenic mice expressing HSLtes under the control of its own promoter. The transgenic animals were crossed with HSL-null mice to produce mice deficient in HSL in nongonadal tissues but expressing HSLtes in haploid germ cells. Cholesteryl ester hydrolase activity was almost completely blunted in HSL-deficient testis. Mice with one allele of the transgene showed an increase in enzymatic activity and a small elevation in the production of spermatozoa. The few fertile hemizygous male mice produced litters of very small to small size. The presence of the two alleles led to a doubling in cholesteryl ester hydrolase activity, which represented 25% of the wild type values associated with a qualitatively normal spermatogenesis and a partial restoration of sperm reserves. The fertility of these mice was totally restored with normal litter sizes. In line with the importance of the esterase activity, HSLtes transgene expression reversed the cholesteryl ester accumulation observed in HSL-null mice. Therefore, expression of HSLtes and cognate cholesteryl ester hydrolase activity leads to a rescue of the infertility observed in HSL-deficient male mice.

Large-scale purification and kinetic properties of recombinant hormone-sensitive lipase from baculovirus-insect cell systems.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the production and purification of recombinant hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) on a large scale using a baculovirus-insect cell expression system, and also provides an update on the available activity assays for HSL, including the use of monomolecular films. A three-dimensional model of the catalytic domain of HSL was generated on the basis of secondary structure predictions and subsequent sequence alignments to members of the cholinesterase family. The model implies that exons 5, 6, and 9 encode the core of the α/β-hydrolase fold, found in all known esterases and lipases, and constituting the catalytic domain of HSL. It has been proposed that parts of exons 7 and 8 encode a regulatory module, containing the phosphorylation sites of HSL, probably inserted into this lipase during the course of evolution. The available HSL cDNAs have been used to establish transient expression systems in COS cells for the purpose of mapping functional domains of the HSL protein using site-directed mutagenesis. The cDNAs have also been used to establish large-scale expression systems for both rat and human HSL utilizing baculovirus-insect cell technology.