Induction of fatty acid synthetase synthesis in differentiating 3T3-L1 preadipocytes

3T3-L1 preadipocytes, cloned from 3T3 mouse embryo fibroblasts, differentiate in monolayer culture into cells with morphological and biochemical characteristics of adipocytes. Deposition of cytoplasmic triglyceride is associated with an increased lipogenic rate and a coordinate rise in the activities of many lipogenic enzymes (Mackall, J.C., Student, A.K., Polakis, S.E., and Lane, M.D. (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 6462-6464). During differentiation induced by a 48-h treatment of postconfluent cells with methylisobutylxanthine, dexamethasone, and insulin, fatty acid synthetase activity increased to a level 19.5-fold higher than that of undifferentiated 3T3-L1 cells or nondifferentiating 3T3-C2 cells. The rate of [3H]leucine incorporation into immunoadsorbable fatty acid synthetase rose to a maximum and then declined to a new level 12.5-fold higher in differentiated than in undifferentiated 3T3-L1 cells. The kinetics of the changing [3H]leucine incorporation rate was reflected in the kinetics of the rise in fatty acid synthetase activity. The rate of degradation of fatty acid synthetase, determined by pulse-chase experiments, was unaffected by differentiation, the t1/2 remaining constant at 1.4 days. It is concluded that the higher level of fatty acid synthetase activity in differentiated 3T3-L1 cells can be attributed entirely to an increased rate of enzyme synthesis. The rate of total cellular protein synthesis also increases early early in differentiation, lending support to a model in which the synthesis of a large number of "differentiated proteins" is coordinately induced.