ABSTRACT
The Djungarian hamster decreases body weight, when exposed to short photoperiod. The reduction of body weight is accomplished by a decrease of body lipid content, mainly by depletion of lipid stores in white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity was studied in adipose tissues of Djungarian hamsters exposed to the natural fluctuations of photoperiod and/or ambient temperature throughout one year. In WAT fatty acids released via LPL are transported into the adipocytes, reesterified in the cells and stored as triglycerides. In BAT the steady state level of LPL-mRNA was measured in order to investigate whether changes on the activity level are due to altered expression of the LPL gene. The chapter shows that adipose tissue LPL of the Djungarian hamster is regulated in a tissue-specific manner during seasonal acclimatization according to the different physiological role of the enzyme in BAT and WAT.
