Microsomal acetyl-CoA carboxylase: evidence for association of enzyme polymer with liver microsomes

Fatty acid synthesis is traditionally viewed as being confined to the cytosolic cellular fraction, although a substantial body of data indicates that both microsomes and mitochondria are capable of initiating fatty acid synthesis and may contain acetyl-CoA carboxylase [acetyl-CoA:carbon-doxide ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.4.1.2], fatty acid synthetase, and ATP-citrate lyase [ATP citrate (pro-3S)-lyase; ATP:citrate oxaloacetate-lyase (pro-3S-CH2COO- leads to acetyl-CoA; ATP-dephosphorylating), EC 4.1.3.8] activities. We have identified 32P-labeled acetyl-CoA carboxylase and 32P-labeled ATP-citrate lyase by immunoprecipitation of a rat hepatocyte microsomal preparation. In the transition between the fasting state (low rates of lipogenesis) and fasting/re-feeding (high rates), the fraction of total cytosolic plus microsomal acetyl-CoA carboxylase in the microsomes increases from 6% to 43%, whereas the microsomal proportion of total fatty acid synthetase and ATP-citrate lyase remains approximately 10%. Microsome isolation conditions favoring carboxylase polymerization (presence of citrate) promote microsomal association, whereas conditions favoring enzyme protomerization (malonyl-CoA, preincubation with cyclic AMP/ATP/Mg2+) diminish this association. The microsomal enzyme has a 5-fold higher specific activity than the cytosolic enzyme as determined by immunotitration. Sucrose density gradient analysis of the microsomal fraction indicates that a substantial portion of carboxylase activity sediments with marker enzymes for endoplasmic reticulum, plasma membrane, Golgi apparatus, and outer mitochondrial membrane, while cytosolic enzyme or isolated enzyme incubated under polymerizing conditions does not penetrate the gradient. These data suggest that the microsomes may be a significant locus of fatty acid synthesis initiated with association of acetyl-CoA carboxylase polymer with this fraction.