Fatty acid synthetase in human adipose tissue: purification and characterization

1. Fatty acid synthetase of abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue of humans obtained at autopsy was purified 95 times with a final recovery of 10%. 2. The purity of the enzyme was verified by polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis and isoelectric point determination. Both techniques revealed only one protein band. 3. The fatty acid synthetase molecular weight was determined by SDS-polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis and found to be 500,000. 4. The fatty acid synthetase Km for both NADPH and malonyl-CoA were also determined and were found to be 18 and 28 microM respectively. 5. The presence of an active fatty acid synthetase in human adipose tissue raises the obvious question as to its biological role.