Lipase

Lipases are a highly versatile group of biocatalysts that play an important role in biotechnological and industrial processes, including food, oleochemical and pharmaceutical applications.Lipase is an enzyme that breaks down triglycerides into free fatty acids and glycerol. Lipases are present in pancreatic secretions and are responsible for fat digestion. There are many different types of lipases; for example, hepatic lipases are in the liver, hormone-sensitive lipases are in adipocytes, lipoprotein lipase is in the vascular endothelial surface, and pancreatic lipase in the small intestine. Based on their active and binding site configurations, lipases can be divided into three groups as previously reported: (1) lipases with a hydrophobic, crevice-like binding site located near the protein surface (example, lipases from Rhizomucor and Rhizopus); (2) lipases with a funnel-like binding site (example, lipases from Candida antarctica, Pseudomonas and mammalian pancreas), and (3) lipases with a tunnel-like binding site (example, lipase from Candida rugosa).

References

1.Dominic Agyei et al, in Enzymes in Food Biotechnology, 2019.