Rates of beta-oxidation of fatty acids of various chain lengths and degrees of unsaturation in highly purified peroxisomes isolated from rat liver

Highly purified peroxisomes were obtained from the liver of untreated rats, and rates of peroxisomal beta-oxidation were measured using fatty acyl-CoAs differing in chain length and degree of unsaturation. A 20–24-fold purification of peroxisomes, indicated by the specific activities of the marker enzymes catalase and urate oxidase, respectively, was obtained from crude liver homogenate using differential centrifugation techniques followed by a 30% Nycodenz gradient separation. The use of a 30% Nycodenz gradient in the final step of purification was extremely effective (e.g. 5.5-fold reduction) in removing lysosomal contamination. The rate of peroxisomal beta-oxidation with lauroyl-CoA (C12:0) as substrate was the highest of all fatty acyl-CoAs tested. Butyryl-CoA (C4:0) was not oxidized by purified peroxisomes. In general, as chain length of the fatty acyl-CoAs increased above 12 carbons, the rates of beta-oxidation decreased.