Induction of fatty acid synthetase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase by isolated rat liver cells.

Current studies on the synthesis of long-chain fatty acids by isolated rat liver cells are largely concerned with the regulation of the activity of previously existing acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthetase, and with the regulation of the quantity of these enzymes. These studies have required the development of methods for obtaining high yields of viable hepatocytes that respond to hormonal treatment. Such methods have been developed over the past 10-15 years through the efforts of several laboratories. These studies have also required the development of a method to determine whether a change in the activity of an enzyme is due to a modification of preexisting enzyme or to a change in quantity of that enzyme. The most satisfactory method to use for such studies is immunotitration of enzyme activity. In recent years studies on the regulation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase have largely centered upon the effect of phosphorylation-dephosphorylation on the activity of this enzyme and whether glucagon inhibits the activity of this enzyme through this process. Much data from a number of laboratories have suggested that glucagon regulates the activity of this enzyme through phosphorylation-dephosphorylation. However, several of these studies involved the use of crude systems in which competing enzymes and substrates that can significantly interfere with acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity measurements were still present. Hence, a confirmation of these studies needs to be carried out under conditions in which the effects of competing enzymes and substrates are eliminated. Studies on changes in quantity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthetase have shown that these enzymes are induced by the fasting and refeeding of animals. They have also shown that insulin stimulates (10- to 30-fold) the induction of these enzymes. This induction appears to be due to a change in the quantity of translatable mRNA which may, in turn, be due to a change in the rate of transcription of the genes coding for these enzymes.