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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Measuring the Rate of Lipolysis in Ex Vivo Murine Adipose Tissue and Primary Preadipocytes Differentiated In Vitro
Published on: March 17, 2023
Importance of TNFalpha and neutral lipases in human adipose tissue lipolysis
Dominique Langin1, Peter Arner
1INSERM U586, Unité de Recherches sur les Obésités, F-31432 Toulouse, France. langin@toulouse.inserm.fr
Abstract:
Catecholamines and natriuretic peptides stimulate human adipocyte lipolysis through an increase in cAMP and cGMP levels, resulting in phosphorylation and activation of hormone-sensitive lipase. A defect in hormone-sensitive lipase expression might contribute to the resistance to catecholamine-induced lipolysis observed in obesity. The respective roles and regulation of hormone-sensitive lipase and adipose triglyceride lipase in spontaneous and hormone-stimulated lipolysis remain to be determined. Tumor necrosis factor alpha stimulates triglyceride hydrolysis by multiple intracellular pathways acting on insulin signaling, G proteins and perilipins, and might contribute to enhanced plasma fatty acid levels in obesity. Characterization of the lipolytic pathways might provide novel strategies to decrease free fatty acid production and reverse insulin resistance and other obesity-related metabolic complications.
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