The substrate specificities of four different lysophospholipases as determined by a novel fluorescence assay

A novel fluorescence assay for quantifying lysophospholipase activity is described which utilizes a commercially available acrylodated intestinal fatty-acid-binding protein (ADIFAB) and non-radiolabelled substrate. Quantification of enzyme activity is based on the decrease in ADIFAB fluorescence at 432 nm in the presence of nanomolar concentrations of non-esterified ('free') fatty acids. Lysophospholipase activity measured by the ADIFAB assay and a conventional radiometric assay yield comparable results and have comparable levels of sensitivity (approximately 10 pmol/min per ml). The ADIFAB assay has the advantageous features of continuous monitoring of enzyme activity and the availability of a broad range of potential substrates, because non-radiolabelled lysophospholipids can be employed in the assay. The hydrolytic activities of four lysophospholipases were determined, including a bacterial secreted phospholipase A2/lysophospholipase, the human-eosinophil-secreted lysophospholipase, a human intracellular lysophospholipase (peak 3) isolated from HL-60 cells and a high-molecular-mass cytosolic phospholipase A2/lysophospholipase from a mouse mammary carcinoma. Each of these enzymes was found to have a distinctive hydrolytic profile as determined by an array of lysophospholipids differing in their polar headgroups and sn-1 fatty-acyl substituents.