Date of Award
5-1971
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Medical
First Advisor
Harold F. Hardman
Second Advisor
Deane N. Calvert
Third Advisor
John J. Lech
Abstract
The purpose of the work presented in this dissertation was, therefore, to investigate further two of the reported lipases associated with adipose tissue -- the tributyrinase and the hormone-sensitive lipase. The four papers (or chapters) presented thus involve the purification and characterization of these two enzymes. The first two chapters present the tributyrin hydrolyzing enzyme investigations. It has proved possible to characterize this enzyme with respect to pH optimum, substrate specificity, and inhibitor effects. The final two chapters of this dissertation contain the results of studies dealing with the hormone-sensitive lipase. This enzyme, in contrast to the tributyrinase, has been only partially purified. The work on this preparation, therefore, consisted initially of the development of an easily reproducible system for the stimulation and assay of this enzymatic activity in broken-cell preparations and finally of studies relating to the localization and purification of the catecholamine-stimulated lipase in rat adipocytes. Such work is, hopefully, the first step in a more complete isolation and characterization of this enzyme.