P450s 2C9 Research Articles

Oxidation of benzo[a]pyrene by recombinant human cytochrome P450 enzymes.

The oxidation of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) was examined using reconstituted systems prepared with recombinant human cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes 1A1, 1A2, 2C8, 2C10, 2E1, and 3A4 and with microsomes prepared from Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing recombinant human P450s 2C8, 2C9, and 2C18. Products measured by HPLC included the 3- and 9-phenols, the 4,5-, 7,8-, and 9,10-dihydrodiols (detected in the presence of epoxide hydrolase), and products in the polar fraction eluting immediately after the void volume. The most active enzyme in all reactions was P450 1A1. P450 3A4 and P450 1A2 formed appreciable amounts of several of the products, including the 3-phenol. P450 2C enzymes and P450 2E1 formed relatively low amounts of all B[a]P products. Consideration of these patterns along with knowledge of levels of expression of the P450s in human tissues and previous results with microsomes leads to the conclusion that P450 1A1 should dominate the oxidation of B[a]P in tissues where it is present and inducible. In human liver the level of P450 1A1 is low and P450 3A4, P450 2C subfamily enzymes, and P450 1A2 probably all contribute. Of the human P450s considered here, P450 1A2 was the most active hepatic enzyme forming the 7,8-dihydrodiol. 7,8-Benzoflavone stimulated the oxidation of B[a]P by P450 3A4 and inhibited the oxidations catalyzed by P450 1A2. The extent of inhibition of P450 1A1 was less (than with P450 1A2), probably due to the rapid oxidation of 7,8-benzoflavone by P450 1A1. The major 7,8-benzoflavone product appears to be the 5,6-oxide.

Pretranslational down-regulation of male specific hepatic P450s after portal bypass

Diversion of portal blood away from the liver in the portal vein ligated (PVL) male rat results in dysfunction of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis, as reflected by an increase in circulating oestradiol, a decrease in serum testosterone and decreased expression of the male-specific cytochrome P450 2C11 in hepatic microsomes. The present study assessed whether there was a decline in the hepatic concentrations of mRNA species corresponding to male-specific P450s and whether female-specific hepatic enzymes may be upregulated after PVL. In microsomes from PVL male rat liver the activities of P450s 2C11 and 3A2 (androstenedione 16α- and 6β-hydroxylation, respectively) were decreased to 45% (P < 0.001) and 43% (P < 0.002) of control. Slot blotting revealed a decline in the mRNAs for P450 2C11 and 3A2 to 46 ± 7 and 27 ± 4% of respective control (relative to β-actin mRNA). In contrast, mRNAs for the female specific P450 2C12 and Δ 4-ketosteroid-5α-oxidoreductase were unchanged from control (100 ± 13% and 122 ± 28%, respectively). P450 2C12 protein was not detected in either control or PVL male rat liver but a slight increase in the rate of 5α-dihydrotestosterone formation was noted after PVL (2.95 ± 0.40 vs 1.00 ± 0.22 nmol/min/mg protein, P < 0.05; corresponding, respectively, to 30 and 10% of the activity in female liver microsomes). These studies indicate that the male-specific P450 2C11 and 3A2 are down-regulated at a pretranslational level whereas upregulation of the female-specific enzymes P450 2C12 and Δ 4-ketosteroid-5 α-oxidoreductase does not occur after PVL. Thus, the endocrine effects of portal bypass result in biochemical demasculinization, but not feminization, of hepatic enzymes involved in steroid biotransformation. Because male-specific P450s are effective steroid hydroxylating enzymes, their down regulation after PVL would significantly decrease hepatic androgen extraction.

Participation of P450 3A Enzymes in Rat Hepatic Microsomal Retinoic Acid 4-Hydroxylation

Cytochrome P450-mediated 4-hydroxylation is an important pathway in the termination of the biological action of retinoids. Several purified mammalian hepatic P450s have been shown to catalyze the 4-hydroxylation of all- trans-retinoic acid (retinoic acid) in reconstituted enzyme systems, but the nature of the activity in untreated rat liver microsomes has not been defined. In the present study, microsomal retinoic acid 4-hydroxylation was characterized in untreated liver from rats of both sexes and after a series of induction treatments. Thus, dexamethasone and phenobarbital, but not β-naphthoflavone or dimethyl sulfoxide, increased the activity in male and female rats. An immunoglobulin G (IgG) fraction raised against P450 3A1 decreased the rate of retinoic acid 4-hydroxylation in untreated rat hepatic microsomes, but IgG directed against the P450s 2C11, 2B1, and 2C6 were noninhibitory. In vivo administration of triacetyloleandomycin, which has been shown to form a metabolite intermediate complex with P450 3A, followed by potassium ferricyanide oxidation in vitro, reactivated retinoic acid 4-hydroxylation and androst-4-ene-3,17-dione 6β-hydroxylation similarly (to 154 and 152% of the respective activities in the absence of potassium ferricyanide). Finally, exogenous retinoic acid (60 mg/kg ip for three days) markedly increased the rate of retinoic acid 4-hydroxylation in hepatic microsomes from male and female rats (3.8- and 3.7-fold, respectively). This occurred without comparable increases in other P450 activities. Despite these findings, the age- and sex-related profiles of microsomal retinoic acid 4-hydroxylation were clearly different from those measured for other P450 activities. Thus, on the basis of xenobiotic pretreatment, developmental, and immunochemical studies, the enzyme(s) involved in constitutive retinoic acid 4-hydroxylation appears distinct from a number of well-described P450s in untreated and induced rat liver. The data are consistent with the partial involvement of P450(s) from the 3A subfamily in retinoic acid 4-hydroxylation, but it seems clear that P450s 3A1 and 3A2 do not participate in this activity.

Differential apoprotein loss of rat liver cytochromes P450 after their inactivation by 3,5-dicarbethoxy-2,6-dimethyl-4-ethyl-1,4-dihydropyridine: A case for distinct proteolytic mechanisms?

Suicide inactivation of hepatic cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes 2C11, 2C6, and 3A1/A2 by 3,5-dicarbethoxy-2, 6-dimethyl-4-ethyl-1,4-dihydropyridine (DDEP) in intact rats results in prosthetic heme destruction, albeit by apparently distinct mechanisms. Such heme destruction is now shown to be associated with the loss of immunochemically detectable apoprotein of P450s 2C11 and 3A but with little of that of P450 2C6, in spite of their comparable DDEP-mediated functional inactivation. The loss of a ≈ 50-kDa hepatic microsomal protein band along with the immunoreactive P450 3A loss strengthens the concept that such an in vivo loss indeed reflects proteolysis of the DDEP-inactivated P450. Furthermore, this propensity of DDEP-inactivated P450s 3A for proteolysis appears to correlate with the relative degree of prosthetic heme alkylation of their apoprotein rather than their functional inactivation per se. Thus, rapid degradation of apoP450s 3A was seen after DDEP treatment, which promoted extensive irreversible heme binding to apoP450s 3A, but not after exposure to allyliso-propylacetamide (AIA), which inactivates these isozymes comparably, but induced minimal apoP450 3A heme alkylation. In addition, differences were observed in the relative sensitivities of proteolysis of DDEP-inactivated P450s 2C11 and 3A to hemin, which largely prevented the DDEP-induced proteolytic loss of P450 2C11 but apparently failed to prevent the loss of DDEP-inactivated P450s 3A, when coadministered with DDEP. This differential hemin sensitivity of the proteolysis of DDEP-inactivated P450 2C11, coupled with the observation that immunochemically detectable P450 2C11 loss occurs after its inactivation by both AIA and DDEP, provides compelling support for the existence of distinct proteolytic pathways for individual suicidally inactivated P450S.

Hepatic microsomal metabolism of the anthelmintic benzimidazole fenbendazole: enhanced inhibition of cytochrome P450 reactions by oxidized metabolites of the drug.

Potentiation of the anthelmintic action of benzimidazole carbamates, such as fenbendazole [methyl 5(6)-(phenylthio)-1H-benzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate], has been noted during concurrent administration of benzimidazoles that possess no intrinsic anthelmintic activity. This study investigated the possibility that inhibition of P450 enzymes by fenbendazole and its metabolites could play a role in the potentiation phenomenon. Fenbendazole underwent P450-mediated oxidation in microsomes from untreated rat liver to the sulfoxide and (4'-hydroxyphenyl)thio metabolites [2.92 and 2.87 nmol/(mg of protein.h)]. Pretreatment of rats with phenobarbital or dexamethasone enhanced sulfoxidation by 1.9- and 2.9-fold, respectively. 4'-Hydroxylation was increased slightly (by 28%) by phenobarbital and decreased slightly (by 41%) by dexamethasone. Induction also promoted further metabolism of the sulfoxide to fenbendazole sulfone. Immunoinhibition and chemical inhibition studies suggested that P450 3A proteins and the flavin-containing monooxygenase are involved in sulfoxide and sulfone formation whereas 4'-hydroxylation involved the P450s 2C11, 2C6, and 2B1, depending on the type of induction. In untreated rat liver, the sulfoxide and (4'-hydroxyphenyl)thio metabolites of fenbendazole were relatively potent inhibitors of P450-mediated androstenedione 16 alpha-, 16 beta-, and 6 beta-hydroxylation (IC50 values of 42, 36, and 74 microM, respectively); 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity was uninhibited. In contrast, fenbendazole and its sulfone metabolite were not inhibitors of these reactions. Mixed-function oxidase activities in phenobarbital-induced rat hepatic microsomes were refractory to inhibition by most compounds, but P450 1A1 mediated activities in microsomes from beta-naphthoflavone-induced rat liver were quite susceptible to inhibition by fenbendazole sulfoxide. Studies with two analogous sulfoxides yielded similar findings.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)