A new assay procedure for monoglyceride acyltransferase.

1. A new assay system is described for monoglyceride acyltransferase (acylglycerol palmitoyltransferase, EC 2.3.1.22) in which palmitoyl-CoA is generated from palmitoyl-(-)-carnitine. 2. With the microsomal fraction from homogenates of guinea-pig intestinal mucosa, the V(max.) of this enzyme decreased with different acyl acceptors in the order 2-monopalmitoylglycerol>2-hexadecylglycerol>rac-1-monopalmitoylglycerol. 3. There were highly significant correlations between the monoglyceride acyltransferase activity as measured with these three substrates. This demonstrates that each of these substrates can be used to measure the same enzyme activity. 4. The advantages of using generated palmitoyl-CoA with 2-hexadecylglycerol and rac-1-monopalmitoylglycerol as model substrates for this enzyme are discussed.