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Triglyceride lipases are a family of lipolytic enzymes that hydrolyse ester linkages of triglycerides. Lipases are widely distributed in animals, plants and prokaryotes.
At least three tissue-specific isozymes exist in higher vertebrates, pancreatic, hepatic and gastric/lingual. These lipases are closely related to each other and to lipoprotein lipase , which hydrolyses triglycerides of chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins.
The most conserved region in all these proteins is centred on a serine residue which has been shown to participate, with a histidine and an aspartic acid residue, in a charge relay system. Such a region is also present in lipases of prokaryotic origin and in lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase , which catalyzes fatty acid transfer between phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol.