Kevin M. Rigtrup

Retinol esterified with long-chain fatty acids is a common dietary source of vitamin A. Hydrolysis of these esters in the lumen of the small intestine is required prior to absorption. Bile salt-stimulated retinyl esterase activity was present with purified rat intestinal brush border membrane, with the maximum rate of ester hydrolysis at approximately pH 8, the physiological luminal pH. Taurocholate, a trihydroxy bile salt, stimulated hydrolysis of short-chain fatty acyl retinyl esters more than hydrolysis of long-chain fatty acyl esters. Deoxycholate, a dihydroxy bile salt, primarily stimulated hydrolysis of long-chain esters. Calculated Kms of 0.74 microM for retinyl palmitate (16:0) hydrolysis and 9.6 microM for retinyl caproate (6:0) hydrolysis suggested the presence of two separate activities. Consistent with that, the activity responsible for retinyl caproate hydrolysis could be inactivated to a greater degree than retinyl palmitate hydrolysis by preincubation of the brush border membrane at 37 degrees C for extended times. Brush border membrane from animals who had undergone common duct ligation 48 h prior to tissue collection showed little ability to hydrolyze retinyl caproate but retained 70% of retinyl palmitate hydrolytic activity, compared to sham-operated controls. Thus, two distinguishable retinyl esterase activities were recovered with purified brush border membranes. One apparently originated from the pancreas, was stimulated by trihydroxy bile salts, and preferentially hydrolyzed short-chain retinyl esters, properties similar to cholesterol ester hydrolase, known to bind to the brush border. The other was intrinsic to the brush border, stimulated by both trihydroxy and dihydroxy bile salts, and preferentially hydrolyzed long-chain retinyl esters, providing the majority of activity of the brush border against dietary retinyl esters.

Retinol esterified with long-chain fatty acids is a common dietary source of vitamin A, that is hydrolyzed prior to absorption. An intrinsic brush border membrane retinyl ester hydrolase activity had previously been demonstrated for rat small intestine [Rigtrup, K. M., & Ong, D. E. (1992) Biochemistry 31, 2920-2926]. This activity has now been purified to apparent homogeneity by a three-column procedure to obtain a protein of apparent molecular weight of 130,000. The purified protein retained the pattern of bile salt stimulation, specificity for the acyl moiety of the retinyl ester, and the Km values previously observed for the activity present in the isolated brush border membrane. This protein also had a potent phospholipase activity, while having little measurable ability to hydrolyze triacylglyceride and cholesteryl ester substrates. The retinyl ester hydrolase enzyme was localized to the distal two-thirds of the small intestine. A polyclonal antiserum against rat brush border phospholipase B reacted with the purified retinyl ester hydrolase, strongly suggesting that this enzyme was the same as that previously purified and characterized as a calcium-independent brush border phospholipase B [Pind, S., & Kuksis, A. (1991) Biochem. Cell Biol. 69, 346-357]. Detailed kinetic studies revealed lower Km values for retinyl palmitate substrate compared to phosphatidylcholine substrate, with all tested bile salts. The Km values for each substrate were bile salt dependent and differently altered when bile salts were changed. Vmax values were also bile salt dependent. Retinyl palmitate was hydrolyzed most rapidly in the presence of deoxycholate and least rapidly in taurocholate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)