Phosphatidate phosphohydrolases in liver, heart and adipose tissue of the JCR:LA corpulent rat and the lean genotypes: implications for glycerolipid synthesis and signal transduction

Abstract

The activities of two distinct phosphatidate phosphohydrolases (PAP) were measured in livers, hearts and adipose tissues of the JCR:LA corpulent rat which is hyperphagic, hypertriglyceridaemic and insulin resistant. The specific activity of PAP-1, which requires Mg2+, was similar in the livers of lean and corpulent female rats and in male corpulent rats, but these activities were about 1.6-fold higher than in lean males. There was a correlation between the specific activity of PAP-1 and the concentrations of hepatic and serum triacylglycerols in the males, but not in the females. Chronic treatment of the corpulent rats with ethanol did not significantly alter the hepatic activity of PAP-1, or the concentrations of hepatic or serum triacylglycerols. Specific activities of PAP-1 in the heart were higher in the lean compared to the corpulent males. There was no significant difference for the females. Specific activities of PAP-1 were over 5-fold higher in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of the corpulent males and females compared to the lean genotypes. The differences were smaller (1.6-1.9-fold) in the gonadal adipose tissue of both sexes and in the peri-renal depot for the males. PAP-1 activity in the peri-renal depots of corpulent females was 23% lower than in lean females. PAP-2 activity was insensitive to N-ethylmaleimide and did not require Mg2+ for activity. Its activity was 1.5-2.0-fold higher in the livers and hearts of the lean male and female rats than in the corpulent genotypes. Chronic treatment with ethanol increased the activity of PAP-2 in the hearts of the corpulent males, but had no effect in the corpulent females. The specific activity of PAP-2 was higher in subcutaneous, gonadal and peri-renal adipose depots in the females and in the peri-renal depot of the corpulent males compared with the lean genotypes. Lean males had higher specific activities in all three depots compared to lean females. The tissue specificity and the sex differences in the specific activities of PAP-1 and PAP-2 are discussed in terms of their proposed functions in glycerolipid biosynthesis and signal transduction. It is proposed that a decreased activity of PAP-2 could be involved in the insulin insensitivity in the corpulent rats.