Biosynthesis of the anticancer drug Taxol involves 19 enzymatic steps from the universal diterpenoid progenitor geranylgeranyl diphosphate derived by the plastidial methylerythritol phosphate pathway for isoprenoid precursor supply. To gain further insight about Taxol biosynthesis relevant to the improved production of this drug and to draw inferences about the organization, regulation, and origins of this complex natural product pathway, random sequencing of a cDNA library derived from Taxus cuspidata cells (induced for taxoid biosynthesis with methyl jasmonate) was undertaken. This effort revealed surprisingly high abundances for transcripts of several of the 12 defined genes of Taxol biosynthesis, yielded cDNAs encoding two previously uncharacterized cytochrome P450 taxoid hydroxylases, and provided candidate genes for all but one of the remaining seven steps of this extended sequence of reactions.paclitaxel ͉ Taxus cuspidata ͉ expressed sequence tags ͉ taxoid 10-hydroxylase
Biosynthesis of the anticancer drug Taxol in yew species involves eight cytochrome P450-mediated oxygenations and four coenzyme A-dependent acylations of the diterpenoid core. A family of cytochrome P450 genes, obtained from a yew cell cDNA library, were functionally expressed and screened with taxusin (taxa-4(20),11(12)-dien-5 alpha,9 alpha,10 beta,13 alpha-tetraol tetraacetate) as a surrogate substrate. One clone converted this substrate to an oxygenated derivative that was identified as 7 beta-hydroxytaxusin. The structure and properties of this 7 beta-hydroxylase are similar to those of other taxoid hydroxylases. Kinetic and binding assays indicated selectivity of the 7 beta-hydroxylase for polyoxygenated and acylated taxoid substrates, an observation consistent with the operation of this enzyme in the central portion of the Taxol biosynthetic pathway. Although the 7 beta-hydroxyl of Taxol is not essential for antimitotic activity, this functional group provides a convenient means for preparing taxoid derivatives.
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