Microbial Cytochromes P-450 and Xenobiotic Metabolism

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the microbial cytochromes P-450 and xenobiotic metabolism. Cytochromes P-450 that are a special class of heme-containing multicomponent enzymes, are widely distributed in mammalian, plant, and microbial systems. The fact that these enzymes are involved in the degradation of various natural and synthetic chemicals is indicative of their significance in such reactions. Information about most of these enzymes is very scant; however, with new powerful spectroscopic and molecular techniques at our disposal, unraveling the mechanism of action of at least some of these enzymes in the near future is inevitable. Potential application for cytochromes P-450 is employment of some of the microbial enzymes, which can mimic mammalian cytochromes P-450, such as the procaryotic P-450 soy from S.griseus and the eucaryotic P-4501 4DM from S.cerevisiae , in the development of convenient test systems for the detection of mutagenic chemicals. The advantages of employing such test systems include, but are not limited to, the ease of preparative scale production of the microbial cytochromes P-450, the reduced dependence on animals for such studies, and the relative low cost of these preparations compared to those from mammalian sources.