CAV1

The processes of triacylglycerol and cholesterol ester hydrolysis are also regulated by subcellular compartmentalization: these lipids are packaged in cytosolic particles and the enzymes responsible for their hydrolysis, and perhaps for additional steps in their metabolism, are organized at the surfaces of these particles (e.g., Brasaemle et al. 2004). This organization is dynamic: the inactive form of HSL is not associated with the particles, but is translocated there after being phosphorylated. Conversely, perilipin, a major constituent of the particle surface, appears to block access of enzymes to the lipids within the particle; its phosphorylation allows greater access.

Here, HSL-mediated triacylglycerol hydrolysis is described as a pathway containing twelve reactions. The first six of these involve activation: phosphorylation of HSL, dimerization of HSL, disruption of CGI-58:perilipin complexes at the surfaces of cytosolic lipid particles, phosphorylation of perilipin, association of phosphorylated HSL with FABP, and translocation of HSL from the cytosol to the surfaces of lipid particles. The next four reactions are the hydrolysis reactions themselves: the hydrolysis of cholesterol esters, and the successive removal of three fatty acids from triacylglycerol. The last two reactions, dephosphorylation of perilipin and HSL, negatively regulate the pathway. These events are outlined in the figure below. Inputs (substrates) and outputs (products) of individual reactions are connected by black arrows; blue lines connect output activated enzymes to the other reactions that they catalyze.

Despite the undoubted importance of these reactions in normal human energy metabolism and in the pathology of diseases such as type II diabetes, they have been studied only to a limited extent in human cells and tissues. Most experimental data are derived instead from two rodent model systems: primary adipocytes from rats, and mouse 3T3-L1 cells induced to differentiate into adipocytes

In general, following myristoylation and palmitoylation, eNOS localizes to caveolae in the plasma membrane, where in resting cells, it is bound to caveolin and remains inactive. Several agonists that raise intracellular calcium concentrations promote calmodulin binding to eNOS and the dissociation of caveolin from the enzyme, leading to an activated eNOS-calmodulin complex.

Phosphorylation plays a significant role in regulating eNOS activity, especially the phosphorylation of Ser1177, located within the reductase domain, which increases enzyme activity by enhancing reductase activity and calcium sensitivity. In unstimulated, cultured endothelial cells, Ser1177 is rapidly phosphorylated following a variety of stimuli: fluid shear stress, insulin, estrogen, VEGF, or bradykinin. The kinases involved in this process depend upon the stimuli applied. For instance, shear stress phosphorylates Ser1177 by activating Akt and PKA; insulin activates both Akt and the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK); estrogen and VEGF mainly phosphorylate eNOS via Akt; whereas the bradykinin-induced phosphorylation of Ser1177 is mediated by CaMKII. When Ser1177 is phosphorylated, NO production is increased several-fold above basal levels.

The phosphorylation of a threonine residue (Thr 495), located in the CaM binding domain, is associated with a decrease in eNOS activity. When this residue is dephosphorylated, substantially more CaM binds to eNOS and elevates enzyme activity. Stimuli associated with dephosphorylation of Thr495 (e.g., bradykinin, histamine, and Ca2+ ionophores) also increase Ca2+ levels resulting in the phosphorylation of Ser1177.

Additional phosphorylation sites, such as Ser114 and Ser633, and tyrosine phosphorylation have all been detected, but their functional relevance remains unclear. It is speculated that the tyrosine phosphorylation of eNOS is unlikely to affect enzyme activity directly, but more likely to impact the protein-protein interactions with associated scaffolding and regulatory proteins