The effect of nutritional state on the lipoprotein lipase activity of isolated fat cells

The lipoprotein lipase activity of rat epididymal adipose tissue falls on starvation and increases on refeeding. Studies with fat cells isolated from this tissue have shown that increases in the activity of the enzyme occur under appropriate incubation conditions in vitro. The present study compares the responses of cells isolated from the adipose tissue of fed and 48-h starved rats. Fat cells from rats starved for 48 h display a lower initial lipoprotein lipase activity than cells from fed rats. When cells from rats in both nutritional states are incubated in a suitable medium at 25 degrees C, there is a progressive increase in the medium lipoprotein lipase activity. The absolute increase in the total activity of the incubation system during incubations of cells from 48-h starved rats is significantly less than during incubations of cells from fed rats. However, when expressed as a percentage of the initial cell activity, the rises in total activity are similar in the two nutritional states. Cycloheximide has no significant effect on the increase in activity of lipoprotein lipase that occurs with cells from 48-h starved rats. However, it does partially block the increase in activity seen with cells from fed rats and in a manner similar to that previously reported for cells from 24-h starved rats. The significance of the results is discussed in relation to previous studies with both intact adipose tissue and isolated fat cells.