Carboxylesterase 2 (CES2/Ces2) proteins exert established roles in (pro)drug metabolism. Recently, human and murine CES2/Ces2c have been discovered as triglyceride (TG) hydrolases implicated in the development of obesity and fatty liver disease. The murine Ces2 family consists of seven homologous genes as opposed to a single CES2 gene in humans. However, the mechanistic role of Ces2 protein family members is not completely understood. In this study, we examined activities of all Ces2 members towards TGs, diglycerides (DGs) and monoglycerides (MGs) as substrate. Besides CES2/Ces2c, we measured significant TG hydrolytic activities for Ces2a, Ces2b, and Ces2e. Notably, these Ces2 members and CES2 efficiently hydrolyzed DGs and MGs and their activities even surpassed those measured for TG hydrolysis. The localization of CES2/Ces2c proteins at the ER may implicate a role of these lipases in lipid signaling pathways. We found divergent expression of Ces2 genes in the liver and intestine of mice on high fat diet, which could relate to changes in lipid signaling. Finally, we demonstrate reduced CES2 expression in the colon of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and a similar decline in Ces2 expression in the colon of a murine colitis model. Together, these results demonstrate that CES2/Ces2 members are highly efficient DG and MG hydrolases that may play an important role in liver and gut lipid signaling.
Title: Solvent-free enzymatic transesterification of ethyl ferulate and monostearin: optimized by response surface methodology Sun S, Song F, Bi Y, Yang G, Liu W Ref: J Biotechnol, 164:340, 2012 : PubMed
In this study, enzymatic transesterification of ethyl ferulate (EF) and monostearin for feruloylated lipids production was investigated. Enzyme screening and the effect of feruloyl acceptors on the transesterification were also studied. Effects of reaction variables (reaction temperatures, enzyme load, and reaction time) on the transesterification were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum conditions were as follows: reaction temperature 74 degrees C, reaction time 23h, and enzyme load 20% (w/w, relative to the weight of substrates). Under these conditions, EF conversion was 98.3+/-1.1%, and the transesterification product was consisted of 19.2+/-2.1% glyceryl ferulate (FG), 32.9+/-1.9% diferuloylated glycerols (DFG), 36.6+/-2.2% feruloylated monoacylglycerols (FMAG), 9.1+/-2.0% feruloylated diacylglycerols (FDAG), and 0.5% ferulic acid (FA). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the regression equation was adequate for predicting EF conversion. The activation energies for hydrolysis to form FG+DFG and transesterification to form FMAG+FDAG were calculated as 22.45 and 51.05kJ/mol, respectively, based on Arrhenius law.
