A possible role of Z protein in dietary control of hepatic triacylglycerol synthesis.

The effects of fasting and refeeding on hepatic Z protein were investigated in rats. When [U-14C]palmityl-CoA was added to the liver cytosol fraction from fat-free refed rats, more binding of labeled palmityl-CoA to the Z-protein region was found than in the case of fasted rats. Also the radioactivities in specific precipitations of the palmityl-CoA binding protein with anti-Z immunoglobulin G were higher in the refed rats. The Z protein which stimulated diacylglycerol acyltransferase may be involved in the change of triacylglycerol synthesis in fasted and refed rat livers.