Sensing cytochrome P450 1A1 activity by a resorufin-based isoform-specific fluorescent probe

Cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), a heme-containing monooxygenase, is of particular importance for human health because of its vital roles in the metabolic activation of pro-carcinogenic compounds to the carcinogens. Deciphering the relevance of CYP1A1 to human diseases and screening of CYP1A1 modulators require reliable tool(s) for probing this key enzyme in complex biological matrices. Herein, a practical and ultrasensitive fluorescence-based assay for real-time sensing CYP1A1 activities in biological systems has been developed, via designing an isoform-specific fluorogenic sensor for CYP1A1 (CHPO). The newly developed fluorogenic substrate for CYP1A1 has been carefully investigated in terms of specificity, sensitivity, precision, quantitative linear range and the anti-interference ability. The excellent selectivity, strong anti-interference ability and fast response kinetics, making the practicability of CHPO-based CYP1A1 activity assay is better than that of most reported CYP1A1 activity assays. Furthermore, CHPO has been successfully used for imaging CYP1A1 activities in living cells and human tissues, as well as for high-throughput screening of CYP1A1 inhibitors using tissue preparations as enzyme sources. Collectively, this study provided a practical fluorogenic sensor for real-time sensing CYP1A1 in complex biological systems, which would strongly facilitate the investigations on the relevance of CYP1A1 to human diseases and promote high-throughput screening of CYP1A1 modulators for biomedical applications.     

细胞色素P450的电化学研究进展

细胞色素P450的电化学研究从一个侧面反映了为使细胞色素P450达到工业催化剂的最终目的人们所作的不懈努力。本文从细胞色素P450在电极上的电子转移研究,隧道扫描显微镜的微观成像研究和使用电极作为细胞色素P450的电子给体从而实现细胞色素P450底物转化三方面,评述了近年来细胞色素P450的电化学研究进展。     

Study of recombinant cytochrome P450 2C9 activity with diclofenac by MEKC

Cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) is one of the most important isoforms in human liver involved in the metabolism of a large number of therapeutic agents. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the applicability of CE for the determination of the enzymatic activity of CYP2C9 with diclofenac as a probe substrate. MEKC with SDS as a pseudostationary phase was used for this purpose. Compared to other assays, the MEKC-based method is rapid, can be automated and requires only a small quantity of enzymes and substrate. Moreover, the enzymatic reaction can be monitored with high sensitivity and repeatability even when the reaction mixture is used for the analysis without any pretreatment. The kinetic study on the given enzymatic reaction was also performed since the basic characterization of drug biotransformation generally begins with the enzyme kinetic analysis of metabolite formation. As a result, the Michaelis constant and maximum reaction velocity were evaluated, the values 3.44 +/- 0.45 microM and 19.78 +/- 0.76 nmol min(-1) nmol(-1), respectively, were in agreement with the literature data. On the other hand, a slight deviation from typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a weak positive cooperativity was found at diclofenac concentrations below 2 microM. The same atypical kinetic behavior of CYP2C9 was also observed by other authors.     

Engineering and assaying of cytochrome P450 biocatalysts

Cytochrome P450s constitute a highly fascinating superfamily of enzymes which catalyze a broad range of reactions. They are essential for drug metabolism and promise industrial applications in biotechnology and biosensing. The constant search for cytochrome P450 enzymes with enhanced catalytic performances has generated a large body of research. This review will concentrate on two key aspects related to the identification and improvement of cytochrome P450 biocatalysts, namely the engineering and assaying of these enzymes. To this end, recent advances in cytochrome P450 development are reported and commonly used screening methods are surveyed.     

The stereochemistry of fatty acid hydroxylation by cytochrome P450BM3

The stereochemical preference for the cytochrome P450_BM3-catalysed hydroxylation of tetradecanoic and pentadecanoic acids has been determined via comparison with authentic non-racemic standards utilising enantioselective HPLC. The sub-terminal hydroxylation of these fatty acids by P450_BM3 is highly selective for the formation of the R-alcohols. This is the same enantioselectivity as is seen for hexadecanoic acid oxidation but contrasts with a previous report of S-hydroxylation of pentadecanoic acid by P450_BM3.     

Direct electrochemistry of human and rat NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase

The diflavo-protein NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is the key electron transfer partner for all drug metabolizing cytochrome P450 enzymes in humans. The protein delivers, consecutively, two electrons to the heme active site of the P450 in a carefully orchestrated process which ultimately leads to the generation of a high valent oxo-heme moiety. Despite its central role in P450 function, no direct electrochemical investigation of the purified protein has been reported. Here we report the first voltammetric study of purified human CPR where responses from both the FMN and FAD cofactors have been identified using both cyclic and square wave voltammetry. For human CPR redox responses at −2 and −278 mV (with a ratio of 1e⁻:3e⁻) vs NHE were seen at pH 7.9 while the potentials for rat CPR at pH 8.0 were −20 and −254 mV. All redox responses exhibit a pH dependence of approximately −59 mV/pH unit consistent with proton coupled electron transfer reactions of equal stoichiometry.     

Molecular modeling of cytochrome P450 3A4

The three-dimensional structure of human cytochrome P450 3A4 was modeled based on crystallographic coordinates of four bacterial P450s: P450 BM-3, P450cam, P450terp, and P450eryF. The P450 3A4 sequence was aligned to those of the known proteins using a structure-based alignment of P450 BM-3, P450cam, P450terp, and P450eryF. The coordinates of the model were then calculated using a consensus strategy, and the final structure was optimized in the presence of water. The P450 3A4 model resembles P450 BM-3 the most, but the B helix is similar to that of P450eryF, which leads to an enlarged active site when compared with P450 BM-3, P450cam, and P450terp. The 3A4 residues equivalent to known substrate contact residues of the bacterial proteins and key residues of rat P450 2B1 are located in the active site or the substrate access channel. Docking of progesterone into the P450 3A4 model demonstrated that the substrate bound in a 6-orientation can interact with a number of active site residues, such as 114, 119, 301, 304, 305, 309, 370, 373, and 479, through hydrophobic interactions. The active site of the enzyme can also accommodate erythromycin, which, in addition to the residues listed for progesterone, also contacts residues 101, 104, 105, 214, 215, 217, 218, 374, and 478. The majority of 3A4 residues which interact with progesterone and/or erythromycin possess their equivalents in key residues of P450 2B enzymes, except for residues 297, 480 and 482, which do not contact either substrate in P450 3A4. The results from docking of progesterone and erythromycin into the enzyme model make it possible to pinpoint residues which may be important for 3A4 function and to target them for site-directed mutagenesis.     

Sensing carboxylesterase 1 in living systems by a practical and isoform-specific fluorescent probe

A practical and isoform-specific fluorescent probe based on BIDIPY dye have been designed, synthesized and well characterized for sensing CES1 activities in various biological systems such as living cells, tissues and zebrafish.     

Alkene epoxidation catalyzed by cytochrome P450 BM-3 139-3

We recently reported conversion of cytochrome P450 BM-3, a medium-chain (C₁₂-C₁₈) fatty acid monooxygenase, into a highly efficient alkane hydroxylase by directed evolution [Nat. Biotechnol. 2002, 20, 1135]. P450 BM-3 mutant 139-3 exhibited high activity towards a variety of fatty acid and alkane substrates, including C₃-C₈ alkanes. We report here that mutant 139-3 is also active on benzene, styrene, cyclohexene, 1-hexene, and propylene. Benzene is converted to phenol, while styrene is converted to styrene oxide. Propylene oxidation generates only propylene oxide, but cyclohexene oxidation produces a mixture of cyclohexene oxide (85%) and 2-cyclohexene-1-ol (15%), and 1-hexene is converted to the allylic hydroxylation product, 1-hexene-3-ol. Initial rates of NADPH oxidation for 139-3 in the presence of the substrates greatly (17- to >100-fold) surpass the wild-type in all cases. However, NADPH consumption is only partially coupled to product formation (14-79%). This cytochrome P450 epoxidation catalyst is a suitable starting point for further evolution to improve coupling and activity.     

Aliphatic hydroxylation and epoxidation of capsaicin by cytochrome P450 CYP505X

Microbial cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) are able to mimic the metabolism of human CYPs. One challenge is to identify the respective drug metabolites and to compare substrate specificities to those of the human enzymes. In this study, a class VIII self-sufficient CYP from Aspergillus fumigatus (CYP505X) and variants of this enzyme were heterologously expressed in E. coli. The substrate scope of the variants was determined using active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and (hetero)cyclic compounds. Capsaicin – the active compound in chili peppers – was oxidized most efficiently (4.36?μM/min) in a whole cell mediated biotransformation. The products were isolated, purified and their structures elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR. The two major metabolites showed modifications on the lipophilic side chain. Specifically, capsaicin was hydroxylated at position 8 to give (E)-8-hydroxy-N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)-8-methylnon-6-enamide and epoxidized at the double bond to give N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)-5-(3-isopropyloxiran-2-yl)-pentanamide.     

以睾酮为探针采用高效液相色谱法测定细胞色素CYP450 3A4的酶活性

建立了一种快速、高效的以睾酮作为探针药物评价细胞色素P450 3A4(CYP3A4)酶活性的高效液相色谱-紫外检测方法。采用的色谱柱为Phenomenex C18柱(4.6 mm×150 mm,5 μm),梯度洗脱,流速1.0 mL/min,紫外检测波长245 nm,柱温30 ℃。睾酮与大鼠肝微粒体温孵后,过已活化好的C18固相萃取小柱,收集甲醇洗脱液,于37 ℃水浴中通N2吹干,用50%甲醇复溶后进样分析测定。研究结果表明,6β-羟基睾酮的 保留时间为11.60 min,线性范围为0.5～32 μg/mL,最低检出质量浓度为0.02 μg/mL,提取率为88.41%～92.73%,方法的回收率为99.07%～101.30%;睾酮的保留时间为19.27 min,线性范围为0.5～40 μg/mL,最低检出质量浓度为0.01 μg/mL,提取率为89.59%～92.66%,方法的回收率为96.50%～98.03%。两者的日内、日间相对标准偏差均小于10%,温孵体系中的其他内源性物质不干扰测定。该方法快速、稳定、灵敏度高,适合体外睾酮及其代谢物6β-羟基睾酮的测定,可应用于体外CYP3A4酶活性的评价及酶动力学的研究。     

A comparative molecular field analysis of cytochrome P450 2A5 and 2A6 inhibitors

Structure-activity relationships of 23 P450 2A5 and 2A6 inhibitors were analysed using the CoMFA [1] and GOLPE/GRID with smart region definition (SRD) [2]. The predictive power of the resulting models was validated using five compounds not belonging to the model set. All models have high internal and external predictive power and resulting 3D-QSAR models are supporting each other. Both Sybyl and GOLPE highlight properties near lactone moiety to be important for 2A5 and 2A6 inhibition. Another important feature for pIC₅₀ was the size of the substituent in the 7-positon of coumarin. The models suggest that the 2A5 binding site is larger that that of 2A6 due to larger steric regions in the CoMFA coefficient maps and corresponding GOLPE maps. In addition, the maps reveal that 2A6 disfavours negative charge near the lactone moiety of coumarin.     

Structure-based design,synthesis of novel probes for cytochrome P450 OleT

Cytochrome P450 OleT_SA, a new cytochrome P450 enzyme from Staphylococcus aureus, catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation and hydroxylation of fatty acids to generate terminal alkenes and fatty alcohols. The mechanism of this bifurcative chemistry remains largely unknown. Herein, a class of derivatized fatty acids were synthesized as probes to investigate the effects of substrate structure on the product type of P450 OleT_SA. The results demonstrate that the fine-tuned structure of substrates, even in a remote distance from the carboxyl group, significantly regulates OleT catalyzed decarboxylation/hydroxylation reactions. Molecular docking analysis indicated the potential interactions between the carboxylate groups of different probes and the enzyme active center which was attributed to the bifurcative chemistry.     

Direct electrochemistry of cytochrome P450 27B1 in surfactant films

We report the first direct electrochemistry of cytochrome P450 27B1 (CYP27B1) immobilized on an edge-plane pyrolytic graphite (EPG) electrode coated with a film of didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) in a deoxygenated solution revealed excellent electrochemical reversibility with an average midpoint potential of −180 ± 5 mV vs. Ag/AgCl and an apparent surface coverage of (7.0 ± 2.5) × 10¹³ molecules per cm². The rate of heterogeneous electron transfer between CYP27B1 and the EPG electrode was determined to be 3.5 ± 0.6 s⁻¹. Upon addition of oxygen, a significant increase in cathodic current occurred, likely due to electrocatalytic reduction of dioxygen to peroxide and/or water by CYP27B1. Characterization of the electrochemical properties of CYP27B1 is an important first step toward developing a bioelectrochemical method for measuring vitamin D in serum.     

Faradic Peaks Enhanced by Carbon Nanotubes in Microsomal Cytochrome P450 Electrodes

In this work we present an investigation on the behavior of microsomes containing human cytochrome P450 in cyclic voltammetry for drug detection. The microsomes are adsorbed on the surface of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes by drop‐casting. We demonstrate that the hydrophobic and highly electroactive surface of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes enables to distinguish more clearly the contributions in reduction peak current attributed to the enzymatic components of microsomes. Voltammetric measurements were performed under several experimental conditions with two cytochrome P450‐isoforms, 1A2 and 3A4. We show that the reduction current for the component of cytochrome P450‐microsome linearly increases in the presence of a substrate.     

A preliminary 3D model for cytochrome P450 2D6 constructed by homology model building

Summary A homology model building study of cytochrome P450 2D6 has been carried out based on the crystal structure of cytochrome P450 101. The primary sequences of P450 101 and P450 2D6 were aligned by making use of an automated alignment procedure. This alignment was adjusted manually by matching -helices (C, D, G, I, J, K and L) and -sheets (3/4) of P450 101 that are proposed to be conserved in membrane-bound P450s (Ouzounis and Melvin [Eur. J. Biochem., 198 (1991) 307]) to the corresponding regions in the primary amino acid sequence of P450 2D6. Furthermore, -helices B, B and F were found to be conserved in P450 2D6. No significant homology between the remaining regions of P450 101 and P450 2D6 could be found and these regions were therefore deleted. A 3D model of P450 2D6 was constructed by copying the coordinates of the residues from the crystal structure of P450 101 to the corresponding residues in P450 2D6. The regions without a significant homology with P450 101 were not incorporated into the model. After energy-minimization of the resulting 3D model of P450 2D6, possible active site residues were identified by fitting the substrates debrisoquine and dextrometorphan into the proposed active site. Both substrates could be positioned into a planar pocket near the heme region formed by residues Val³⁷⁰, Pro³⁷¹, Leu³⁷², Trp³¹⁶, and part of the oxygen binding site of P450 2D6. Furthermore, the carboxylate group of either Asp¹⁰⁰ or Asp³⁰¹ was identified as a possible candidate for the proposed interaction with basic nitrogen atom(s) of the substrates. These findings are in accordance with a recently published predictive model for substrates of P450 2D6 [Koymans et al., Chem. Res. Toxicol., 5 (1992) 211].     

Electrochemical study of the interaction between cytochrome P450sccK201E and cholesterol

Cytochrome P450sccK201E, mutated form of cytochrome P450scc native recombinant (P450sccNR), was employed to study the enzyme–substrate interaction. The detection of the cholesterol was performed by electrochemical method using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry measurements. The biochemical analysis was realized to observe the electrochemical responses of the engineerized enzyme to three different forms of cholesterol: free, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Compared to cytochrome P450sccNR, the cytochrome P450sccK201E displays a different behavior in the interaction with the substrate detection.

The results show that the engineerized enzyme can be utilized for the cholesterol detection in biosensor field.     

Concomitant detection of CYP1A1 enzymatic activity and CYP1A1 protein in individual cells of a human urothelial cell line using a bilayer microfluidic device

To understand molecular networking at the cellular level, analyses of processes and effects at the single-cell level are most appropriate. Usual biochemical or molecular biological analyses are based on integrated signals of numerous cells which differ, however, in their expression and activity profiles. Here we show that it is possible to determine different types of properties of individual cells by means of a specifically designed microfluidic device. As part of investigations to characterize the human urothelial cell line 5637 as a potential model system for studies of toxic and carcinogenic effects on urothelial cells, we use this cell line to assign cytochrome P450 activity, and expression of the enzymes involved, to individual cells. It is shown that the cell population is very heterogeneous with respect to the extent and kinetics of CYP1A1-dependent ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD). This is also true for the cells’ CYP1A1 protein content. With some exceptions, the EROD activity largely coincides with the presence of CYP1A1 protein in the cells. The results obtained with the microfluidic device are promising and open up new perspectives with regard to multi-property determinations in individual cells and to studies focusing on the biochemical and molecular heterogeneity of cells. Figure Formation of fluorescent resorufin from ethoxyresorufin by cytochrome P450 activity in urothelial cells attached within the chamber of a microfluidic device     

Human Cytochrome P450 (CYP1A2)‐dsDNA Interaction in situ Evaluation Using a dsDNA‐electrochemical Biosensor

Human cytochrome CYP1A2 is one of the major hepatic cytochrome P450s involved in many drugs metabolism, and chemical carcinogens activation. The CYP1A2‐dsDNA interaction in situ evaluation using a DNA‐electrochemical biosensor and differential pulse voltammetry was investigated. A dsDNA‐electrochemical biosensor showed that CYP1A2 interacted with dsDNA causing conformational changes in the double helix chain and DNA oxidative damage. A preferential interaction between the dsDNA guanosine residues and CYP1A2 was found, as free guanine and 8‐oxoguanine, a DNA oxidative damage biomarker, oxidation peaks were detected. This was confirmed using guanine and adenine homopolynucleotides‐electrochemical biosensors. The CYP1A2‐dsDNA interaction and dsDNA conformation changes was also confirmed by UV‐Vis spectrophotometry.