No abstract

1. Hydroxylation activities toward steroid hormones were determined for eleven forms of human hepatic cytochrome P450s expressed in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Microsomes were prepared from the yeast cells and assayed for their regioselectivity of hydroxylation toward progesterone, pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and oestrone. 2. 6 beta-Hydroxylation of progesterone was catalysed most efficiently by CYP3A4, followed by CYP2D6. CYP3A4 showed the highest progesterone 16 alpha-hydroxylation activity, followed by CYP1A1 and CYP2D6. 16 alpha-Hydroxylation of pregnenolone was catalysed efficiently by CYP1A1 and CYP3A4. Only CYP3A4 exhibited 16 alpha-hydroxylase activities toward DHEA and oestrone. 3. Addition of nifedipine, a typical substrate of CYP3A4, inhibited the 6 beta- and 16 alpha-hydroxylation of progesterone by CYP3A4. 4. These results suggest that CYP3A4 and CYP1A1 are responsible for the hydroxylation of these endogenous steroids, as well as xenobiotics, in human liver.

Bisphenol A (4,4Ј-isopropylidenediphenol, BPA) is widely used in the chemical industry in the manufacturing of epoxy, polycarbonate, and polyester-styrene resins, and trace levels of BPA leach from polycarbonate plasticware and resins used for food packaging materials. This compound is suspected to be an endocrine disrupter. 2) Additionally, it has been reported that exposure of male rats and mice to BPA may be associated with increased incidence of cancers of the hematopoietic system and that high doses of BPA cause reproductive toxicity and affect cellular development in these species. 3,4) However, the effect of BPA in vivo and its mechanism of action are still unclear.Cytochrome P450 (CYP) comprises a superfamily of enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of a wide variety of xenobiotic chemicals including drugs, carcinogens, and steroids including sex hormones. [5][6][7] In the rat, BPA is metabolized to DNA-reactive bisphenol-o-quinone through 5-hydroxybisphenol and bisphenol semiquinone, 4) and the formation of the DNA adducts in a microsomal activation system is markedly decreased by CYP inhibitors, 8) suggesting that CYPs are closely associated with the metabolism and toxicity of BPA in rats. However, there are few reports on BPA metabolism in humans and on the human CYP(s) that metabolizes BPA.Recently, we reported that BPA inhibits human hepatic CYP-mediated drug-metabolizing activities including aminopyrine N-demethylation, especially by CYP2C8 and CYP2C19. 9) Additionally, Hanioka et al. reported that the administration of BPA to male rats decreased the catalytic activities and protein levels of male-specific CYP isoforms (such as CYP2C11 and CYP3A2) in rat liver microsomes, 10) and that BPA inhibited the drug-metabolizing activities of rat hepatic CYP1A2, CYP2A2, CYP2B2, CYP2C11, CYP2D1, CYP2E1, and CYP3A2. 11) CYP17 is found in the endoplasmic reticulum of the adrenal cortex and gonads, and mediates both 17a-hydroxylase and 17,20-lyase reactions of pregnenolone and progesterone, and is thus involved in the biosynthesis of glucocorticoids and sex hormones. 12) Therefore endocrine disrupters (sex hormone-like compounds) may affect the activity of CYP17. Recently, we reported that the aminopyrine Ndemethylase activity of CYP17 was comparable with that of CYP3A4, a dominant CYP in human liver. 13) This paper describes an in vitro investigation of BPA metabolism by human hepatic CYPs and steroidogenic CYP17 based on the disappearance rate of parent compounds from an incubation mixture and the inhibitory effect of BPA on the progesterone 17a-hydroxylase activity of CYP17. MATERIALS AND METHODS MaterialsBisphenol A was purchased from Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). Progesterone, 17a-hydroxyprogesterone, and estrone were from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.). Human NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (fp 2 ) and hydrocortisone acetate were obtained from Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd. (Osaka, Japan). All other reagents were of the highest purity commercially available. Expression o...

1. Aminopyrine N-demethylase activity was determined for 11 forms of human hepatic cytochrome P450s (P450s) expressed in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and for human steroidogenic CYP17 expressed in Escherichia coli. 2. Among the hepatic P450s, the N-demethylation of aminopyrine was catalysed most efficiently by CYP2C19, followed by CYP2C8, 2D6, 2C18 and 1A2, whereas the activity with CYP2E1 was negligible. The kinetics of the N-demethylation process by CYP1A2, 2C8, 2C19 and 2D6 were studied by fitting to Michaelis-Menten kinetics by Lineweaver-Burk plots. CYP2C19 exhibited the highest affinity and a high capacity for the aminopyrine N-demethylation. CYP2C8 showed the highest Vmax, followed by CYP2C19, 2D6 and 1A2, whereas the Km for CYP2C8, 2D6 and 1A2 were 10-17 times higher than that for CYP2C19. Accordingly, the Vmax/Km for CYP2C19 was more than nine times higher than that of other P450s. 3. Human steroidogenic CYP17 also catalysed aminopyrine N-demethylation and the activity was comparable with that for CYP3A4 which is a dominant P450 in human liver. The activity was increased 1.5-fold by the addition of cytochrome b5, whereas the activity was not affected by the addition of Mg2+. 4. These results suggest that several human hepatic P450s, especially CYP2C19, and steroidogenic CYP17 exhibit aminopyrine N-demethylase activity.

No abstract

Carotenoid-depleted fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, were reared on yeast/glucose medium containing lipid-depleted white corn grits and cholesterol. After rearing for more than a year, the yield of flies remained constant and the content of 3-hydroxyretinal in a head was three logarithmic units less than that of normal flies reared on medium containing yellow corn grits. When all-trans retinal was supplied as the sole source of retinoids, the flies formed and accumulated all-trans 3-hydroxyretinal in the dark. To examine the metabolic pathway to produce (3S)-3-hydroxyretinal in Drosophila, all-trans retinal was supplemented for two hours to carotenoid-depleted flies in the dark, and the subsequent changes in the composition of 3-hydroxyretinal enantiomers were analyzed using a chiral column on HPLC. The results indicated initial formation of (3R)-3-hydroxyretinal followed by isomerization into the 3S enantiomer. In another set of experiments, the membrane fraction was obtained from the head homogenate of retinoid-depleted flies and an in vitro assay of 3-hydroxyretinal formation from retinal was performed. The 3-hydroxyretinal produced was the 3R enantiomer, supporting the result obtained from the in vivo experiment whereby (3S)-3-hydroxyretinal is produced from retinal via (3R)-3-hydroxyretinal. Addition of NADPH enhanced 3-hydroxyretinal formation and the presence of carbon monoxide inhibited it, suggesting that hydroxylation at the C3 position of retinal occurred via the monooxygenase activity of cytochrome P-450.

No abstract

No abstract