Lipolysis plays a central role in the regulation of energy balance. Lipolysis is the process in which triglycerides (TG) are hydrolyzed into glycerol and free fatty acids. This process releases free fatty acids (FFA) into the bloodstream where they may be either re-esterified by the adipocyte or travel to other tissues and exert other effects throughout the body. Elevated adipocyte lipolysis has been observed in obese and diabetic individuals (Arner 1996). Excessive free fatty acid production is believed to contribute to insulin resistance in skeletal muscle that is observed in obesity. Hormone sensitive lipase is the rate-limiting enzyme catalyzing triglyceride breakdown. Perilipins, one of the PAT (perilipins, adipophilin, TIP47 proteins) family of lipid-associated proteins, are implicated in adipocyte lipolysis by mediating the interaction of HSL with the triacylglycerol molecule (Brasaemle et al. 2004; reviewed in, Tansey et al. 2004.) The presence of these proteins corresponds to lipolytic stimulation in cultured adipocytes (Braemle et al. 2004).

The sympathetic nervous system also plays a key role in the regulation of lipid mobilization. The main lipolytic pathway involves beta-agonists (β-agonists), which activate β-adrenergic receptors via the intracellular Gs proteins in adipocytes. This leads to the activation of adenylate cyclase (AC), which then increases cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels. Elevated cAMP acts as a second messenger to activate hormone sensitive lipase (HSL). HSL, the rate-limiting enzyme regulating adipocyte lipolysis, then catalyzes the hydrolysis of triglycerides and results in the release of glycerol and FFA (increased lipolysis). Phosphodiesterases (PDE) are enzymes that hydrolyze cAMP to 5'-AMP (5 prime adenosine monophosphate). This action results in a decrease in lipolysis. PDE inhibitors increase intracellular cAMP levels. 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), a non-specific inhibitor of cAMP phosphodiesterases (PDE), is used as the positive control if your test compounds are suspected PDE inhibitors. Isoproterenol, a non-specific β-adrenergic agonist is used as the positive control if your test compounds affect lipolysis via β-adrenergic receptors (Robidoux et al. 2004).

Our lipolysis assay kits provide the tool to study chemical compounds that may influence lipolysis in cultured human or 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Kits are available with and without a plate of cells. Kits can measure the glycerol and/or free fatty acids released in lipolysis.

Overview of adipocyte lipolysis

Ordering Information:

* This kit includes one 96-well plate of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, media to differentiate the cells and reagents for the detection of lipolysis.

To see kit manuals

ZenBio Kits - Recent Publications

LIP-1

1. LIP-1-NC lipolysis kit used to quantify glycerol release in hormone stimulated adipocytes (Gagnon, et al., 2010).
2. Lipolysis Assay kit used in 3T3L-1 cells and primary adipocytes (Liu, et al., 2009).
3. Lipolysis Assay Kit Buffer used to measure adipogenesis regulation by G protein coupled receptor 103 (Mulumba, et al.).
4. Lipolysis Assay kit used to measure lipolysis in 3T3 Cells after caveloin-1 knockdown by siRNA (Ahmad, et al., 2009).
5. Glycerol Reagent (Lipolysis kit) used to measure lipolysis in 3t3-1 adipocytes following Xanthohumol and guggulsterone treatment (Rayalam, et al., 2009).
6. Lipolysis Kit used to measure the glycerol content in the culture medium after isoproterenol treatment (Klein, Schreml, Nerlich, & Prantl, 2009).
7. Lipolysis Kit used to measure lipolysis in primary murine adipocytes from differentiated white fat precursor cells (Hiroyama, et al., 2009).
8. Lipolysis Kit used to measure lipolysis after treatment of primary adipocytes with isoproterenol or recombinant leptin (Cernkovich, Deng, Bond, Combs, & Harp, 2008).
9. Glycerol reagent (lipolysis kit) used to measure lipolysis change in cells after Guggulsterone treatment (Yang, Della-Fera, & Baile, 2008).
10. Glycerol reagent (lipolysis kit) used to measure change in triglyceride hydrolysis following injection of antimicrobial peptide dermicidin in vivo (K.-A. Kim, et al., 2008).
11. Lipolysis assay kit used to measure FFA released from mature adipocytes and media from breast cancer cells (J. H. Kim, et al., 2008).
12. Lipolysis assay kit used in adipose-derived stem cells aging study (Schipper, Marra, Zhang, Donnenberg, & Rubin, 2008).

LIP-2

1. FFA kit used in patients for angiopoietin study (Robciuc, Tahvanainen, Jauhiainen, & Ehnholm, 2010).
2. FFA kit used in liver steatosis study in SIRT1 knockout mice (Xu, et al., 2010).
3. FFA kit used in an oxidative stress study to determine the interaction between dyslipidemia and inflammation in obese children (Oliver, et al., 2010).
4. FFA kit used to support circadian rhythm analysis in rat adipose tissue (Sukumaran, Xue, Jusko, Dubois, & Almon, 2010).
5. FFA kit used to measure FFA after diet restriction in two rock climbers, oxidative stress study (Merrells, Friel, Knaus, & Suh, 2008).

LIP-3

1. TG/FFA kit used to measure regulation of serum lipids by Pck1 in insulin resistant mice (Millward, et al., 2010).
2. TG/FFA kit used to measure lipolysis and triglyceride accumulation in adipocytes after treatment with all-trans retinoic acid (Berry, Soltanian, & Noy, 2010).
3. TG/FFA kit used to measure triglycerides and lipolysis in 3T3-L1 cells after treatment with dexamethasone and methylisobutylxanthine (Pantoja, Huff, & Yamamoto, 2008).

LIP-1-LI

1. Adipocyte lipolysis assay kit use to measure white adipocyte lipolysis activation (An, et al., 2010).
2. 3T3-L1 adipocytes triglyceride lipolysis kit used to measure PPAR-Gamma effects on lipid storage (Lobo, et al., 2010).
3. 3T3-L1 Adipocyte kit used to prepare cells for mineralcorticoid receptor blockade experiments (Guo, et al., 2008).