Lecithin is usually used as synonym for phosphatidylcholine (PC),which is the major component of a phosphatide fraction which is frequently isolated from either egg yolk, or soya beans and is commercially available in high purity. Isolation and purification of lecithins from different sources are described in Kuksis [1985]. Egg Lecithin is of particular significance due to its unique applications in pharmaceuticals. It is devoid of phosphatidylinositol, a phospholipid found in all vegetable sources
A lipase was found to be present in dog stomach which appeared to be more abundant in the fundic than in the pyloric mucosa. Dog gastric lipase was extracted by soaking the gastric tissue and further purified after cation exchange, anion exchange and gel-filtration using fast protein liquid chromatography. The amino-acid composition, N-terminal amino-acid sequence, substrate specificity, interfacial and kinetic behavior and inactivation by sulfhydryl reagents were determined and compared with those of human and rabbit gastric lipases. We report for the first time that a gastric lipase is 13 times more active on long-chain than on short-chain triacylglycerols at pH 4.0, reaching a maximal specific activity of 950 U/mg on Intralipide emulsion.
        
Title: Purification, characterization and kinetic properties of the rabbit gastric lipase Moreau H, Gargouri Y, Lecat D, Junien JL, Verger R Ref: Biochimica & Biophysica Acta, 960:286, 1988 : PubMed
Rabbit gastric lipase was purified from an acetonic powder of rabbit stomach fundus. 25 mg of pure rabbit gastric lipase (glycerol ester hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.3) was obtained from 30 rabbit stomachs after ammonium sulfate fractionation, Sephadex G-100 gel filtration and cation exchange (mono S column) using a fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) system. The pure enzyme obtained was resistant to acidic pH conditions, and had specific activities of 1200, 850 and 280 U/mg, using, respectively, short- (tributyroylglycerol (TC4)), medium- (trioctanoyl- to tridecanoylglycerol (TC8-TC10)) and long-chain (soybean oil) triacylglycerols. The amino-acid composition was determined, and the first 30 N-terminal amino-acid residues were sequenced. Interfacial denaturation and catalytic properties on triacylglycerol emulsions were studied. Rabbit gastric lipase turned out to be structurally and kinetically very similar to human gastric lipase.
Under optimal conditions, assay for pure human gastric lipase was carried out with short- and long-chain triacylglycerol emulsions. Maximal specific activities of 1160 and 620 U/mg were obtained with tributyrin and soybean emulsion, respectively. We observed that with a tributyrin substrate, bovine serum albumin or bile salts must be added before the addition of the enzyme in order to prevent its irreversible interfacial denaturation. With long-chain triacylglycerols as substrate, a decrease with time in the rate of hydrolysis was associated with release of protonated long-chain fatty acids. The inhibitory effect of protonated fatty acids was also observed using tributyrin at pH 3.0. These observations support the conclusion that human gastric lipase shows no intrinsic specificity for short-chain triacylglycerols and that its apparent specificity is modulated by pH and presence of amphiphile in the incubation medium. Our conclusions support the view that, in the human, gastric lipolysis may play an important role in long-chain fat digestion.
        
3 lessTitle: Regulation of hepatic lipase activity by sphingomyelin in plasma lipoproteins Yang P, Subbaiah PV Ref: Biochimica & Biophysica Acta, 1851:1327, 2015 : PubMed
Hepatic lipase (HL) is an important enzyme in the clearance of triacylglycerol (TAG) from the circulation, and has been proposed to have pro-atherogenic as well as anti-atherogenic properties. It hydrolyzes both phospholipids and TAG of lipoproteins, and its activity is negatively correlated with HDL levels. Although it is known that HL acts preferentially on HDL lipids, the basis for this specificity is not known, since it does not require any specific apoprotein for activity. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that sphingomyelin (SM), whose concentration is much higher in VLDL and LDL compared to HDL, is an inhibitor of HL, and that this could explain the lipoprotein specificity of the enzyme. The results presented show that the depletion of SM from normal lipoproteins activated the HL roughly in proportion to their SM content. SM depletion stimulated the hydrolysis of both phosphatidylcholine (PC) and TAG, although the PC hydrolysis was stimulated more. In the native lipoproteins, HL showed specificity for PC species containing polyunsaturated fatty acids at sn-2 position, and produced more unsaturated lyso PC species. The enzyme also showed preferential hydrolysis of certain TAG species over others. SM depletion affected the specificity of the enzyme towards PC and TAG species modestly. These results show that SM is a physiological inhibitor of HL activity in lipoproteins and that the specificity of the enzyme towards HDL is at least partly due to its low SM content.
Several well known microbial lipases were screened for their ability to hydrolyze synthetic medium chain monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG). Fusarium solani cutinase and Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase (TLL) were found to hydrolyze MGDG at high rates (984 +/- 62 and 450 +/-41 U/mg, respectively). These activities remained however lower than those measured with pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 (PLRP2) on the same substrate. As previously observed with PLRP2, galactolipid-bile salt mixed micelles were found to be the best substrate form for microbial enzymes. The galactolipid to bile salt molar ratios for measuring maximum galactolipase activities were found to be similar to those previously established with PLRP2, suggesting that bile salts have mainly an effect on the substrate and not on the enzyme itself. The galactolipase activity of cutinase and TLL, as well as human and guinea pig PLRP2s were also measured using galactolipid monomolecular films. Enzymes having a lid (TLL and human PLRP2) were found to act at higher surface pressures than those with no lid (cutinase and guinea pig PLRP2). In silico docking of medium chain MGDG and DGDG in the active site of guinea pig PLRP2 and TLL reveals some structural analogies between these enzymes
Access to the active site of pancreatic lipase (PL) is controlled by a surface loop, the lid, which normally undergoes conformational changes only upon addition of lipids or amphiphiles. Structures of PL with their lids in the open and functional conformation have required cocrystallization with amphiphiles. Here we report two crystal structures of wild-type and unglycosylated human pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 (HPLRP2) with the lid in an open conformation in the absence of amphiphiles. These structures solved independently are strikingly similar, with some residues of the lid being poorly defined in the electron-density map. The open conformation of the lid is however different from that previously observed in classical liganded PL, suggesting different kinetic properties for HPLRP2. Here we show that the HPLRP2 is directly inhibited by E600, does not present interfacial activation, and acts preferentially on substrates forming monomers or small aggregates (micelles) dispersed in solution like monoglycerides, phospholipids and galactolipids, whereas classical PL displays reverse properties and a high specificity for unsoluble substrates like triglycerides and diglycerides forming oil-in-water interfaces. These biochemical properties imply that the lid of HPLRP2 is likely to spontaneously adopt in solution the open conformation observed in the crystal structure. This open conformation generates a large cavity capable of accommodating the digalactose polar head of galactolipids, similar to that previously observed in the active site of the guinea pig PLRP2, but absent from the classical PL. Most of the structural and kinetic properties of HPLRP2 were found to be different from those of rat PLRP2, the structure of which was previously obtained with the lid in a closed conformation. Our findings illustrate the essential role of the lid in determining the substrate specificity and the mechanism of action of lipases.
A lipase was found to be present in dog stomach which appeared to be more abundant in the fundic than in the pyloric mucosa. Dog gastric lipase was extracted by soaking the gastric tissue and further purified after cation exchange, anion exchange and gel-filtration using fast protein liquid chromatography. The amino-acid composition, N-terminal amino-acid sequence, substrate specificity, interfacial and kinetic behavior and inactivation by sulfhydryl reagents were determined and compared with those of human and rabbit gastric lipases. We report for the first time that a gastric lipase is 13 times more active on long-chain than on short-chain triacylglycerols at pH 4.0, reaching a maximal specific activity of 950 U/mg on Intralipide emulsion.
        
Title: Purification, characterization and kinetic properties of the rabbit gastric lipase Moreau H, Gargouri Y, Lecat D, Junien JL, Verger R Ref: Biochimica & Biophysica Acta, 960:286, 1988 : PubMed
Rabbit gastric lipase was purified from an acetonic powder of rabbit stomach fundus. 25 mg of pure rabbit gastric lipase (glycerol ester hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.3) was obtained from 30 rabbit stomachs after ammonium sulfate fractionation, Sephadex G-100 gel filtration and cation exchange (mono S column) using a fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) system. The pure enzyme obtained was resistant to acidic pH conditions, and had specific activities of 1200, 850 and 280 U/mg, using, respectively, short- (tributyroylglycerol (TC4)), medium- (trioctanoyl- to tridecanoylglycerol (TC8-TC10)) and long-chain (soybean oil) triacylglycerols. The amino-acid composition was determined, and the first 30 N-terminal amino-acid residues were sequenced. Interfacial denaturation and catalytic properties on triacylglycerol emulsions were studied. Rabbit gastric lipase turned out to be structurally and kinetically very similar to human gastric lipase.
Under optimal conditions, assay for pure human gastric lipase was carried out with short- and long-chain triacylglycerol emulsions. Maximal specific activities of 1160 and 620 U/mg were obtained with tributyrin and soybean emulsion, respectively. We observed that with a tributyrin substrate, bovine serum albumin or bile salts must be added before the addition of the enzyme in order to prevent its irreversible interfacial denaturation. With long-chain triacylglycerols as substrate, a decrease with time in the rate of hydrolysis was associated with release of protonated long-chain fatty acids. The inhibitory effect of protonated fatty acids was also observed using tributyrin at pH 3.0. These observations support the conclusion that human gastric lipase shows no intrinsic specificity for short-chain triacylglycerols and that its apparent specificity is modulated by pH and presence of amphiphile in the incubation medium. Our conclusions support the view that, in the human, gastric lipolysis may play an important role in long-chain fat digestion.