Kinetic behavior of the pancreatic lipase-colipase-lipid system

Pancreatic lipase is a surface-active protein that binds avidly to interfaces comprised of the substrates and products of lipolysis. However, both lipase binding to substrate-containing particles and subsequent interfacial catalysis are inhibited by a number of amphipathic molecules. The most thoroughly studied of these, phosphatidylcholine, is a common constituent of membranes and intestinal lipid contents. Colipase, a surface-active cofactor of lipase, relieves inhibition by phosphatidylcholine in several ways. Through protein-protein interactions, colipase helps anchor lipase to surfaces and stabilizes it in the open conformation. Within the interface, colipase packs more efficiently with substrates and products of lipolysis than with phosphatidylcholine, thereby concentrating these reactants in the vicinity of colipase. This enrichment of lipase substrates and products in the vicinity of colipase enhances lipase-lipid interactions. The result is that colipase facilitates the adsorption of lipase to the interface and, possibly, increases the availability of substrate to the enzyme. Thus, the functional unit in intestinal lipolysis appears to be a lipase-colipase-reactant complex.