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Cytochrome P450 enzymes promote a number of oxidative biotransformations including the hydroxylation of unactivated hydrocarbons. Whereas the long-standing consensus view of the P450 mechanism implicates a high-valent iron-oxene species as the predominant oxidant in the radicalar hydrogen abstraction/oxygen rebound pathway, more recent studies on isotope partitioning, product rearrangements with‘radical clocks’, and the impact of threonine mutagenesis in P450s on hydroxylation rates support the notion of the nucleophilic and/or electrophilic (hydro)peroxo-iron intermediate(s) to be operative in P450 catalysis in addition to the electrophilic oxenoid-iron entity; this may contribute to the remarkable versatility of P450s in substrate modification. Precedent to this mechanistic concept is given by studies with natural and synthetic P450 biomimics. While the concept of an alternative electrophilic oxidant necessitates C-H hydroxylation to be brought about by a cationic insertion process, recent calculations employing density functional theory favour a‘two-state reactivity’ scenario, implicating the usual ferryl-dependent oxygen rebound pathway to proceed via two spin states (doublet and quartet); state crossing is thought to be associated with either an insertion or a radicalar mechanism. Hence, challenge to future strategies should be to fold the disparate and sometimes contradictory data into a harmonized overall picture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenol hydroxylase (PH) from Acinetobacter radioresistens S13 represents an example of multicomponent aromatic ring monooxygenase made up of three moieties: a reductase (PHR), an oxygenase (PHO) and a regulative component (PHI). The function of the oxygenase component (PHO), here characterized for the first time, is to bind molecular oxygen and catalyse the mono-hydroxylation of substrates (phenol, and with less efficiency, chloro- and methyl-phenol and naphthol). PHO was purified from extracts of A. radioresistens S13 cells and shown to be a dimer of 206 kDa. Each monomer is composed by three subunits: α (54 kDa), β (38 kDa) and γ (11 kDa). The gene encoding PHO α (named mopN ) was cloned and sequenced and the corresponding amino acid sequence matched with that of functionally related oxygenases. By structural alignment with the catalytic subunits of methane monooxygenase (MMO) and alkene monooxygenase, we propose that PHO α contains the enzyme active site, harbouring a dinuclear iron centre Fe-O-Fe, as also suggested by spectral analysis. Conserved hydrophobic amino acids known to define the substrate recognition pocket, are also present in the α-subunit. The prevalence of α-helices (99.6%) as studied by CD confirmed the hypothized structural homologies between PHO and MMO. Three parameters (optimum ionic strength, temperature and pH) that affect kinetics of the overall phenol hydroxylase reaction were further analyzed with a fixed optimal PHR/PHI/PHO ratio of 2/1/1. The highest level of activity was evaluated between 0.075 and 0.1 m of ionic strength, the temperature dependence showed a maximum of activity at 24 °C and finally the pH for optimal activity was determined to be 7.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the isolation and characterization of the regulatory moiety of the multicomponent enzyme phenol hydroxylase from Acinetobacter radioresistens S13 grown on phenol as the only carbon and energy source. The whole enzyme comprises an oxygenase moiety (PHO), a reductase moiety (PHR) and a regulatory moiety (PHI). PHR contains one FAD and one iron-sulfur cluster, whose function is electron transfer from NADH to the dinuclear iron centre of the oxygenase. PHI is required for catalysis of the conversion of phenol to catechol in vitro , but is not required for PHR activity towards alternative electron acceptors such as cytochrome c and Nitro Blue Tetrazolium. The molecular mass of PHI was determined to be 10 kDa by SDS/PAGE, 8.8 kDa by MALDI-TOF spectrometry and 18 kDa by gel-permeation. This finding suggests that the protein in its native state is a homodimer. The isoelectric point is 4.1. PHI does not contain any redox cofactor and does not bind ANS, a fluorescent probe for hydrophobic sites. The N-terminal sequence is similar to those of the regulatory proteins of phenol hydroxylase from A. calcoaceticus and Pseudomonas CF 600. In the reconstituted system, optimal reaction rate was achieved when the stoichiometry of the components was 2 PHR monomers: 1 PHI dimer: 1 PHO (αβγ) dimer. PHI interacts specifically with PHR, promoting the enhancement of FAD fluorescence emission. This signal is diagnostic of a conformational change of PHR that might result in a better alignment with respect to PHO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) is a three-component enzyme that catalyses dioxygen- and NAD(P)H-dependent oxygenation of methane and numerous other substrates. Oxygenation occurs at the binuclear iron active centre in the hydroxylase component (MMOH), to which electrons are passed from NAD(P)H via the reductase component (MMOR), along a pathway that is facilitated and controlled by the third component, protein B (MMOB). We previously demonstrated that electrons could be passed to MMOH from a hexapeptide-modified gold electrode and thus cyclic voltammetry could be used to measure the redox potentials of the MMOH active site. Here we have shown that the reduction current is enhanced by the presence of catalase or if the reaction is performed in a flow-cell, probably because oxygen is reduced to hydrogen peroxide, by MMOH at the electrode surface and the hydrogen peroxide then inactivates the enzyme unless removed by catalase or a continuous flow of solution. Hydrogen peroxide production appears to be inhibited by MMOB, suggesting that MMOB is controlling the flow of electrons to MMOH as it does in the presence of MMOR and NAD(P)H. Most importantly, in the presence of MMOB and catalase, the electrode-associated MMOH oxygenates acetonitrile to cyanoaldehyde and methane to methanol. Thus the electochemically driven sMMO showed the same catalytic activity and regulation by MMOB as the natural NAD(P)H-driven reaction and may have the potential for development into an economic, NAD(P)H-independent oxygenation catalyst. The significance of the production of hydrogen peroxide, which is not usually observed with the NAD(P)H-driven system, is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the cloning of the genes coding for each component of the complex of toluene/o -xylene monooxygenase from Pseudomonas stutzeri OX1, their expression, purification and characterization. Moreover, the reconstitution of the active complex from the recombinant subunits has been obtained, and the functional role of each component in the electron transfer from the electron donor to molecular oxygen has been determined. The coexpression of subunits B, E and A leads to the formation of a subcomplex, named H, with a quaternary structure (BEA)2 , endowed with hydroxylase activity. Tomo F component is an NADH oxidoreductase. The purified enzyme contains about 1 mol of FAD, 2 mol of iron, and 2 mol of acid labile sulfide per mol of protein, as expected for the presence of one [2Fe-2S] cluster, and exhibits a typical flavodoxin absorption spectrum. Interestingly, the sequence of the protein does not correspond to that previously predicted on the basis of DNA sequence. We have shown that this depends on minor errors in the gene sequence that we have corrected. C component is a Rieske-type ferredoxin, whose iron and acid labile sulfide content is in agreement with the presence of one [2Fe-2S] cluster. The cluster is very sensitive to oxygen damage. Mixtures of the subcomplex H and of the subunits F, C and D are able to oxidize p -cresol into 4-methylcathecol, thus demonstrating the full functionality of the recombinant subunits as purified. Finally, experimental evidence is reported which strongly support a model for the electron transfer. Subunit F is the first member of an electron transport chain which transfers electrons from NADH to C, which tunnels them to H subcomplex, and eventually to molecular oxygen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soluble methane mono-oxygenase (sMMO) of Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) catalyses the O2 -dependent and NAD(P)H-dependent oxygenation of methane and numerous other substrates. During purification, the sMMO enzyme complex, which comprises three components and has a molecular mass in excess of 300 kDa, becomes inactivated because of cleavage of just 12 amino acids from the N-terminus of protein B, which is the smallest component of sMMO and the only one without prosthetic groups. Here we have shown that cleavage of protein B, to form the inactive truncated protein B′, continued to occur when intact protein B was repeatedly separated from protein B′ and all detectable contaminants, giving compelling evidence that the protein was cleaved autocatalytically. The rate of autocatalytic cleavage decreased when the residues flanking the cleavage site were mutated, but the position of cleavage was unaltered. Analysis of a series of incremental truncates showed that residue(s) essential for the activity of sMMO, and important in determining the stability of protein B, lay in the region Ser4–Tyr7. Protein B was shown to possess intrinsic nucleophilic activity, which we propose initiates the cleavage reaction via a novel mechanism. Proteins B and B′ were detected in approximately equal amounts in the cell, showing that truncation of protein B is biologically relevant. Increasing the growth-medium copper concentration, which inactivates sMMO, did not alter the extent of in vivo cleavage, therefore the conditions under which cleavage of protein B may fulfil its proposed role as a regulator of sMMO remain to be identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allosteric regulation of monooxygenase activity is shown to occur with diverse cytochrome P450 isoforms and is characterized by kinetic patterns deviating from the Michaelis–Menten model. Homotropic and heterotropic phenomena are encountered in both substrate activation and productive coupling of the electron donors NADPH–cytochrome P450 reductase and cytochrome b5, and the lipid environment of the system also appears to play a role as an effector. Circumstantial analysis reveals the components of the electron transfer chain to be mutually beneficial in interactions with each other depending on the substrate used and type of cytochrome P450 operative. It is noteworthy that association of diatomic gaseous ligands may be amenable to allosteric regulation as well. Thus, dioxygen binding to cytochrome P450 displays nonhyperbolic kinetic profiles in the presence of certain substrates; the latter, together with redox proteins such as cytochrome b5, can exert efficient control of the abortive breakdown of the oxyferrous intermediates formed. Similarly, substrates may modulate the structural features of the access channel for solutes such as carbon monoxide in specific cytochrome P450 isozymes to either facilitate or impair ligand diffusion to the heme iron. The in vivo importance of allosteric regulation of enzyme activity is discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NADH–cytochrome c oxidoreductase activity specifically expressed during growth on tetrahydrofuran was detected in cell extracts of Pseudonocardia sp. strain K1. The enzyme catalyzing this reaction was purified to apparent homogeneity by a three-step purification procedure. It was characterized as a monomer of apparent molecular mass 40 kDa. Spectroscopic studies indicated that it contains an iron–sulfur cluster and a flavin cofactor. An amount of 1 mol of flavin and 1 mol of iron was determined per mol of homogeneous protein. The N-terminal amino-acid sequence exhibited great similarity to the reductase component of various oxygenases. Cloning and sequencing of the corresponding gene designated as thmD revealed an ORF encoding a protein of 360 amino acids. An overall similarity of up to 38% was obtained to the NAD(P)H–acceptor reductase of several binuclear iron-containing mono-oxygenases. Conserved sequence motifs were identified that were similar to the chloroplast-type ferredoxin 2Fe-2S centre and to nucleotide-binding domains. Studies on the flavin cofactor showed that it could not be removed from the protein by denaturation, indicating a covalent attachment. Spectroscopic studies revealed that the flavin is at the FAD level and covalently bound to the protein via the flavin 8α-methyl group. Thus, the isolated reductase component is the first enzyme of this type for which a covalent attachment of the flavin has been observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel flavoprotein that catalyses the NADPH-dependent oxidation of 4-hydroxyacetophenone to 4-hydroxyphenyl acetate, was purified to homogeneity from Pseudomonas fluorescens ACB. Characterization of the purified enzyme showed that 4-hydroxyacetophenone monooxygenase (HAPMO) is a homodimer of ≈ 140 kDa with each subunit containing a noncovalently bound FAD molecule. HAPMO displays a tight coupling between NADPH oxidation and substrate oxygenation. Besides 4-hydroxyacetophenone a wide range of other acetophenones are readily converted via a Baeyer–Villiger rearrangement reaction into the corresponding phenyl acetates. The P. fluorescens HAPMO gene (hapE) was characterized. It encoded a 640 amino-acid protein with a deduced mass of 71 884 Da. Except for an N-terminal extension of ≈ 135 residues, the sequence of HAPMO shares significant similarity with two known types of Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenases: cyclohexanone monooxygenase (27–33% sequence identity) and steroid monooxygenase (33% sequence identity). The HAPMO sequence contains several sequence motifs indicative for the presence of two Rossman fold domains involved in FAD and NADPH binding. The functional role of a recently identified flavoprotein sequence motif (ATG) was explored by site-directed mutagenesis. Replacement of the strictly conserved glycine (G490) resulted in a dramatic effect on catalysis. From a kinetic analysis of the G490A mutant it is concluded that the observed sequence motif serves a structural function which is of importance for NADPH binding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 4-methoxybenzoate monooxygenase from Pseudomonas putida , the substrate deuterium isotope effect on product formation and the solvent isotope effect on the stoichiometry of oxygen uptake, NADH oxidation, product and/or H2 O2 (D2 O2 ) formation for tight couplers, partial uncouplers, and uncouplers as substrates were measured. These studies revealed for the true, intrinsic substrate deuterium isotope effect on the oxygenation reaction a k 1H /k 2H ratio of < 2.0, derived from the inter- and intramolecular substrate isotope effects. This value favours a concerted oxygenation mechanism of the substrate. Deuterium substitution in a tightly coupling substrate initiated a partial uncoupling of oxygen reduction and substrate oxygenation, with release of H2 O2 corresponding to 20% of the overall oxygen uptake. This H2 O2 (D2 O2 ) formation (oxidase reaction) almost completely disappeared when the oxygenase function was increased by deuterium substitution in the solvent. The electron transfer from NADH to oxygen, however, was not affected by deuterium substitution in the substrate and/or the solvent. With 4-trifluoromethylbenzoate as uncoupling substrate and D2 O as solvent, a reduction (peroxidase reaction) of the active oxygen complex was initiated in consequence of its extended lifetime. These additional two electron-transfer reactions to the active oxygen complex were accompanied by a decrease of both NADH oxidation and oxygen uptake rates. These findings lead to the following conclusions: (a) under tightly coupling conditions the rate-limiting step must be the formation time and lifetime of an active transient intermediate within the ternary complex iron/peroxo/substrate, rather than an oxygenative attack on a suitable C–H bond or electron transfer from NADH to oxygen. Water is released after the monooxygenation reaction; (b) under uncoupling conditions there is competition in the detoxification of the active oxygen complex between its protonation (deuteronation), with formation of H2 O2 (D2 O2 ) and its further reduction to water. The additional two electron-transfer reactions onto the active oxygen complex then become rate limiting for the oxygen uptake rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the sequencing and analysis of the Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) hydroxylases. Corrections to the M. capsulatus sMMO gene sequences; Roles for genes from the sMMO family operons; Comparisons of the sMMO family protein sequences.

Examines the alkene monooxygenase (AMO) from Rhodococcus rhodochrous. Catalysis on stereoselective epoxygenation of aliphatic alkenes; Degree of amino acid sequence; Discussion on the cloning of AMO genes.

The side chain of Tyr222 in p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase interacts with the carboxy moiety of the substrate. Studies on the Tyr222→Phe mutant, [F222]p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase, have shown that disruption of this interaction hampers the hydroxylation of 4-hydroxybenzoate. Tyr222 is possibly involved in flavin motion, which may facilitate the exchange of substrate and product during catalysis. To elucidate the function of Tyr222 in more detail, in the present study the substrate and product during catalysis. To elucidate the function of Tyr222 in more detail, in the present study the substrate and effector specificity of the Tyr222→Ala mutant, [A222]p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase, was investigated. Replacement of Tyr222 by Ala impairs the binding of the physiological substrate 4-hydroxybenzoate and the substrate analog 4-aminobenzoate. With these compounds, hydroxylase tightly interacts with 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate and 2-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoate. Crystallographic data [Schreuder, H.A., Mattevi, A., Oblomova, g., Kalk, K. H., Hol, W.G.J., van der Bolt, F.J.T. & van Berkel, W.J.H. (1994) Biochemsitry 33, 10161-10170] suggest that this is due to motion of the flavin ring out of the active site, allowing hydrogen-bond interaction between the 2-hydroxy group of the substrate analogs and N3 of the flaving. [A222]p-Hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase produces about 0.6 mol 2,3,4-trihydroxybenzoate from 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate/mol NADPH oxidized. This indicates that reduction of the Tyr222→Ala mutant shifts the equilibrium of flavin conformers towards the productive 'in' position. [A222]p-Hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase converts 2-fluoro-4-hydroxybenzoate to 2-fluor-3,4-dihydroxybenzoate. The regioselectivity of hydroxylation suggests that [A222]p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase binds the fluorinated substrate in the same orientation as wild-type. Spectral studies suggest that wild-type and [A222]p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase bind 2-fluoro-4-hydroxybenzoate in the phenolate form with the flavin ring preferring the 'out' conformation. Despite activation of the fluorinated substrate and in contrast to the wild-type enzyme. [A222]p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase largely produces hydrogen peroxide. The effector specificity of p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase is not changed by the Tyr222→Ala replacement. This supports the idea that the effector specificity is mainly dictated by the protein-substrate interactions at the re-side of the flavin ring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously described the isolation and sequencing of cDNA clones encoding flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs) 1 and 4 of man [Dolphin, C., Shephard, E. A., Povey, S., Palmer, C. N. A., Ziegler, D. M., Ayesh, R., Smith, R. L. & Phillips, I. R. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 12379–12385; Dolphin, C., Shephard, E. A., Povey, S., Smith, R. L. & Phillips, I. R. (1992) Biochem. J. 287, 261–267]. We present heine the isolation of a cDNA for FMO3 of man. The sequence of this cDNA and the amino acid sequence deduced from it differ substantially from those previously reported for this member of the FMO family of man. In addition, we have investigated, by quantitative RNase protection assays, the expression in severed foetal and adult human tissues of genes encoding FMO1, FMO3 and FMO4. Our results demonstrate that, in the adult, FMO1 is expressed in kidney but not in liver, whereas in the foetus it is expressed in both organs. The lack of expression of FM01 in adult human liver is in marked contrast to the situation in other mammals, such as pig and rabbit, in which FMO1 constitutes a major form of the enzyme in the liver of the adult animal. The mRNA encoding FMO3 is abundant in adult liver and is also present, in low abundance, in some foetal tissues. Thus, FMO1 and FMO3 are both subject to developmental and tissue-specific regulation, with a developmental switch in the expression of the genes taking place in the liver. FMO4 mRNA is present in low abundance in several foetal and adult tissues and thus the corresponding gene appears to be expressed constitutively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determines the effects of valproate on the abundance of individual components of the cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase and of glutathione S-transferase subunits. Potency of valproate as an inducer of two members of the cytochrome P-450; Induction of proteins mediated at the level of the mRNAs.

The kinetic mechanism of the flavoprotein 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA monooxygenase/reductase with its natural substrates 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA, NADH and O2 has been investigated using the stopped-flow technique. Initial rate measurements indicate the formation of a ternary complex between oxidized enzyme and the two substrates 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA and NADH, a turnover number of ≈40 min-1 was found at pH 7.4 and 4°C. 2-Aminobenzoyl-CoA binds to oxidized enzyme to form a complex which is in a ≈1:1 equilibrium with a second, spectrophotometrically distinguishable one. Binding of 2-amino benzoyl-CoA to reduced enzyme is, in contrast, a simple second-order process. Reduction of oxidized enzyme, both uncomplexed and in complex with 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA, by NADH is strongly biphasic. The first fast phase yields enzyme in which 50% of the total FAD is reduced to the FADH2 state. This rate is not affected by the presence of 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA. In contrast, 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA enhances 100-fold the second phase, the reduction of the residual 50% FAD. This second phase of reduction (kobs = 2.0 s-1) is partially rate-limiting in catalysis. The oxygen reaction of uncomplexed, reduced enzyme is also biphasic and no oxygenated intermediate was detected. Reoxidation of substrate-complexed, reduced enzyme involves three spectroscopically distinguishable species. The first observable intermediate is highly fluorescent suggesting that it consists largely of flavin-4a-hydroxide. Thus, insertion of oxygen into 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA is essentially complete at this point and has a kobs ≥80 s-1. The subsequent phase is accompanied by formation of the main product, 2-amino-5-oxocyclohex-l-enecarboxyl CoA. This step consists in a hydrogenation of the primary, oxygenated and non-aromatic CoA intermediate; it has a rate ≈1.3 s-1, which is thus the second rate-limiting step in catalysis. As a side reaction of the oxidized enzyme and at low NADH concentrations the initially formed product disappears at a very slow rate (kobs ≈ 0.05 s-1). This third ‘post-catalytic’ process is not relevant for catalysis. The primary product 2-amino-5-oxocyclohex-l-enecarboxyl-CoA is dehydrogenated by the oxidized enzyme to yield the aromatic 2-amino-5-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA as secondary product. The reduced enzyme formed in this process is reoxidized by O2 to form H2O2. This explains the formation of different products depending on the actual concentration of NADH in the catalytic system, which has been reported previously [Buder, R., Ziegler, K., Fuchs, G., Langkau, B. & Ghisla, S. (1989) Eur. J. Biochem. 185, 637–643]. A kinetic mechanism is proposed based on the concept that aminobenzoyl-CoA monooxygenase/reductase has two active sites which catalyze independently monooxygenation and hydrogenation of substrate or intermediate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2-Aminobenzoyl-CoA monooxygenase/reductase catalyzes both monooxygenation and hydrogenation of anthraniloyl-CoA. Its reactivity with 11 substrate analogs has been investigated. Only 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA (anthraniloyl-CoA) in its normal and deuterated (5-²H) form is a full substrate, and only traces of 2-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA (salicyloyl-CoA) are probably monooxygenated but not hydrogenated. The purified enzyme is a homodimer and has been resolved preparatively into three major species by anion-exchange chromatography on Mono Q. All three species have the same specific activity when reconstituted to full content of FAD. They differ, however, substantially in their mode of binding FAD. The oxidized or fully reduced enzyme forms bind tightly 0.5 mol/mol of the substrate 2-aminobenzoyl CoA (Kd = 1–2 μM). The enzyme can be depleted of ≈50% of its FAD, which corresponds to essentially complete removal from one of the two binding sites, reflecting a large difference in the affinity for FAD. From this it is deduced that the two sites are not equivalent. Removal of FAD from one binding site leads to loss of the hydrogenation capacity nl the enzyme, while monooxygenation catalysis is retained. The FAD cofactors of the two binding sites differ drastically in their reactivities towards NADH, oxygen and N-ethylmaleimide. Exchange of reducing equivalents between the two FAD cofactors at the respective binding sites is very slow and irrelevant compared to the rates of catalysis. It is concluded that the enzyme, which has been proposed to consist of two identical polypeptide chains [Altenschmidt, U., Bokranz. M. & Fuchs, G, (1992) Eur. J, Biochem, 207, 715–722], contains two active centers which differ substantially in their catalytic activity. One center belongs to the class of monooxygenases, the other one to the (de)hydrogenases. This must result from substantially different interaction of the same flavin cofactors with protein functional groups and is. to our knowledge, unprecedented in flavoprotein enzymology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demonstrates that the essential lysyl residue (Lys208) of FAD-containing monooxygenase (FMO) is essential for its substrate (amine)-binding site. Observations of absorption peak of substituted pyridoxal-P; Analysis of the model peptide; Identification of what comprises the amino acid residues.

This study describes the regioselective hydroxylation and the rates of conversion of a series of fluorinated phenol derivatives by phenol hydroxylase from the yeast Trichosporon cutaneum. The natural logarithm of the kcat value for the conversion of the phenolic substrates correlates with the calculated energy of the reactive electrons in the highest occupied molecular orbital of the substrate (r = 0.85). This observation supports the hypothesis that at physiological pH (7.6) and 25°C, in the absence of monovalent anions, the nucleophilic attack of the electrons in the highest occupied molecular orbital of the substrate on the C(4a)-hydroperoxyflavin enzyme intermediate is of major importance in determining the overall rate of catalysis. Results from 19F-NMR analysis of the incubation mixtures demonstrate for phenols with two identical ortho substituents, that the ortho position which becomes preferentially hydroxylated is the one with the highest density of the reactive electrons in the highest occupied molecular orbital. A halogen substituent at a meta position decreases the chances for hydroxylation at the adjacent ortho position further khan expected on the basis of the calculated reactivity. This result indicates a contribution of a protein/substrate dipolar interaction, influencing the time-averaged orientation of the substrate with respect to the reactive C(4a)-hydroperoxyflavin intermediate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new variant of aerobic benzoate degradation has been found in a denitrifying bacterium in which benzoyl-CoA is the first intermediate [Altenschmidt, U., Oswald, B., Steiner, E., Herrmann, H. & Fuchs, G. (1993) New aerobic benzoate oxidation pathway via benzoyl-coenzyme A and 3-hydroxybenzoyl-coenzyme A in a denitrifying Pseudomonas sp, J. Bacteriol. 175, 4851–4858)]. The initial reaction is catalyzed by benzoate-CoA ligase (AMP-forming), converting benzoate into benzoyl-CoA. The next step is 3-hydroxylation of benzoyl-CoA to 3-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA catalyzed by a flavin-nucleotide-dependent monooxygenase, benzoyl-CoA 3-monooxygenase. This novel enzyme has been purified and studied. It is specific for NADPH and requires the presence of a flavin nucleotide for activity; both FAD or FMN function similarly well as cofactor. Only benzoyl-CoA, but not benzoate, is hydroxylated. The protein is a monomer of Mr 65000 and is induced when cells are grown aerobically with benzoate. 3-Hydroxybenzoyl-CoA is further hydroxylated para to the hydroxyl group affording 2,5-dihydroxybenzoate (gentisate). This reaction requires another monooxygenase, 3-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA 6-monooxygenase, which is unspecific with respect to the pyridine nucleotide. Cells contain a second 6-monooxygenase activity which acts on free 3-hydroxybenzoate. Based on these and other data, the outlines of the new aerobic benzoate pathway have been deduced. The proposed intermediates are benzoyl-CoA, 3-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA, gentisate, maleylpyruvate, fumarylpyruvate and fumarate plus pyruvate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The data from the deuterium isotope experiments in this study show that the primary kinetic isotope effect for methane oxidation catalysed by soluble methane monooxygenase from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) is very small, <2. In contrast, the primary kinetic isotope effect for -- CH3 group oxidation in toluene is large, >7. A mechanistic pathway in which a substrate radical is formed from hydrogen atom abstraction by a ferryl species is believed to operate for CH4, the toluene --CH, group and similar alkanes. Direct oxygen atom addition, rather than H atom abstraction, is indicated for aromatic ring oxidations in benzene and toluene and for styrene oxide formation from styrene. Thus, more than one mechanistic pathway appears to operate in soluble methane-monooxygenase-catalysed reactions and, in some cases, the pathway chosen may be dictated by the substrate. In the soluble methane-monooxygenase-catalysed oxidation of toluene the rates of; (a) substrate dissociation from the enzyme-substrate complex, (b) product formation and (c) product release (benzyl alcohol and p-cresol) from the enzyme-product complex are comparable in magnitude. Therefore all three of these steps are partially rate-determining in the soluble methane monooxygenase catalytic cycle for toluene oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the abduction of iron(III) from the soluble methane monooxygenase hydroxylase and the reconstitution of the binuclear site with iron and manganese. Preparation of the apo-form of the soluble methane monooxygenase hydroxylase from Methylococcus capsulatus; Strong coupling between the two Mn(II) ions and retention of the μ-hydroxo bridge.

We investigated the molecular diversity of the paired enzymes, peptidylglycine α-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM) and peptidylhydroxyglycine N-C lyase (PHL), involved in peptide C-terminal amidation. Three kinds of amidating enzyme (AE) cDNAs (AE-I, AE-II and AE-III) have previously been isolated from Xenopus laevis skin. While AE-I cDNA encodes only PHM, AE-III cDNA encodes a protein containing both PHM and PHL sequences and a transmembrane domain. On the other hand, the translated product of AE-II has not been detected yet. Endoproteolylic cleavage of the AE-III protein generates separated forms of PHM and PHL that are purified from X. laevi,v skin. Expression of AE-III in insect cells using a baculovirus expression vector system indicated that PHM and PHL exist as a membrane-associated, bifunctional enzyme without endoproteolysis in insect cells. Both PHM and PHL activities were detected in all the X. laevis tissues examined, Particularly, the highest levels of both activities were found in skin, brain and heart. We identified basically three types of enzymes in X. laevis: soluble PHM, soluble PHL and a membrane-associated, bifunctional enzyme that has both PHM and PHL domains. While the skin contained soluble types of PHM and PHL, the brain and heart predominantly contained the membrane-associated, bifunctional type. Analysis of mRNA levels by the reverse-transcript polymerase chain reaction method and Western blot analysis using PHM-specific antibody revealed that such molecular diversity of PHM and PHL among the tissues are produced by changing the ratio of AE-I mRNA/AE-III mRNA. and by endoproteolytic processing of the membrane-associated precursor protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stable expression of the human cytochrome CYP2E1 (P450 alcohol) was performed in the mammalian cell line PC-12. This cell line expressed cytochrome b5 (58±12 pmol/mg microsomal protein vs 528±80 pmol/mg in microsomal human liver) and a high level of NADPH: cytochrome P450 reductase (140±20 nmol · min-1 · mg microsomal protein-1 vs 68±48 nmol · min-1 · mg-1 in microsomal human liver). An expression plasmid was constructed using the eDNA for the human CYP2E1 mRNA and the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) promoter. This plasmid was co-transfected with the plasmid RSVneo into PC-12 cells. Clones were selected for resistance to the neomycin analog, G418. and then screened for expression of the CYP2E1 isozyme by testing for 6-hydroxylation of chlorzoxazone, a specific substrate for CYP2E1. Expression of CYP2E1 was confirmed in one clone. DB-7, by Western blot analysis and by measurement of monooxygenase activities which were not detectable in PC-12 cells. Chlorzoxazone 6-hydroxylation. n-butanol oxidation and dimethylnitrosamine N-demethylation were localized in microsomes (62, 60 and 63 pmol · min-1 · mg microsomal protein-1, respectively) and were inhibited by carbon monoxide and diethyldithiocarbamate. both inhibitors of P450 enzymes. Although the level of the enzyme activities was about a tenth of that measured in human liver microsomes, CYP2E1 expressed in DB-7 ceils has catalytic competence similar to human liver CYP2E1. DB-7 cells metabolized acetaminophen and this metabolic activation was shown to be toxic to these cells by release of lactate dehydrogenase. Construction of recombinant cell lines expressing CYP2E1 provides a useful tool for studying the catalytic properties of this enzyme and the consequent cytotoxic effects of substrates metabolized by this enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The α-amidating reaction of peptide hormones is a two-step process which is catalyzed by peptidylglycine α-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM) and peptidylhydroxyglycine N-C lyase (PHL). There are three types of mRNA for these amidating enzymes in Xenopus laevis, namely AE-I, AE-II and AE-III. AE-I encodes only PHM and AE-III encodes both PHM and PHL. AE-II seems to encode subtypes of both PHM and PHL. While AE-II mRNA is present in high amounts in frog skin, the actual enzymes originating from AE-II have not been detected. When we expressed AE-II in cultured insect-cells using the baculovirus expression vector system, the expressed enzyme was specifically localized to the membrane fraction due to its hydrophobic transmembrane domain. Alternatively, when the transmembrane-domain-deleted AE-II (Met1-Ile731) was expressed, the enzyme was secreted into the culture medium; this secreted enzyme was purified to homogeneity by a simple two-step procedure. We have verified that the reaction product of the purified enzyme was the amidated peptide, indicating that AE-II has the ability to catalyze the entire amidating reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was undertaken to examine the nature of the inhibitory action of glycerol on the liver microsomal monooxygenase system. In agreement with earlier observations, glycerol inhibited benzphetamine N-demethylation by liver microsomes of the phenobarbital-treated rabbit. The presence of glycerol in the medium did not affect binding of the substrate to cytochrome P450. Another polyol, ethylene glycol, was equally efficient in inhibiting benzphetamine N-demethylation. Both also inhibited reduction of rabbit cytochrome P450 LM2, cytochrome c and potassium ferricyanide by NADPH-cytochrome-P450 reductase in microsomes. Recently, we showed that the stimulation of electron transfer by increased ionic strength is due to neutralization of electrostatic interaction between NADPH-cytochrome-P450 reductase and its charged redox partners [Voznesensky, A. I. & Schenkman, J. B. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 14669–14676]. Polyols have an opposite effect to that of salt on ionic properties of a solution. They decrease the dielectric constant, thereby promoting electrostatic interactions between proteins. Addition of polyols decreased the conductivity of the medium. When rates of electron transfer to charged acceptors, cytochrome P450, cytochrome c and potassium ferricyanide, at various salt and polyol concentrations, relative to activities in 200 mM sodium phosphate, were plotted as a function of the conductivity the data for each acceptor fit on the same line. In contrast, neither alteration of ionic strength nor potyol addition affected the rate of electron transfer from NADPH-cytochrome-P450 reductase to an uncharged acceptor 1,4-benzoquinone. The data obtained is consistent with our earlier suggestion that charge repulsion limits redox interactions between rabbit cytochrome P450 LM2 and its reductase at low ionic strength, and suggest that the observed action of polyols is the result of enhancement of electrostatic interactions that inhibits electron transfer between NADPH-cytochrome-P450 reductase and its charged redox partners. In congruence with the hypothesis, the Km of rabbit cytochrome P450 LM2 for NADPH-cytochrome-P450 reductase was increased almost one order of magnitude by elevating the glycerol content from 5% to 25% (by vol.) without a change in Vmax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular dichroism spectroscopy has shown the hydroxylase component of methane monooxygenase to have a high helical content. The apoprotein has the same secondary structure as the holoenzyme. Chemical modification shows 12 histidines to be reactive with diethylpyrocarbonate in the holoenzyme, whereas 14 are reactive in the apoenzyme. Two histidine residues are implicated as iron ligands. Further chemical modification results suggest a cysteine residue is in close proximity to the diiron centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spin-trapping technique has demonstrated that carbon-centered radicals are produced during soluble-methane-monooxygenase catalysis of the hydroxylation of several different types of substrate. The resulting spin-adducts were identified from the hyperfine splitting constants in their EPR spectra. Isotopic labelling showed unequivocally that the trapped radicals were derived from substrate. The carbon-centered substrate radicals are believed to result from hydrogen-atom abstraction by a ferryl species in a cytochrome-P-450-1ike mechanism. No hydroxy radical nor an oxygen-based radical of any kind was detected in any of the spin-trapping experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The xylene monooxygenase system encoded by the TOL plasmid pWW0 of Pseudomonas putida catalyses the hydroxylation of a methyl side-chain of toluene and xylenes. Genetic studies have suggested that this monooxygenase consists of two different proteins, products of the xy1A and xy1M genes, which function as an electron-transfer protein and a terminal hydroxylase, respectively. In this study, the electron-transfer component of xylene monooxygenase, the product of xy1A, was purified to homogeneity. Fractions containing the xy1A gene product were identified by its NADH: cytochrome c reductase activity. The molecular mass of the enzyme was determined to be 40 kDa by SDS/PAGE, and 42 kDa by gel filtration. The enzyme was found to contain 1 mol/mol of tightly but not covalently bound FAD, as well as 2 mol/mol of non-haem iron and 2 mol/mol of acid-labile sulfide, suggesting the presence of two redox centers, one FAD and one [2Fe-2S] cluster/protein molecule. The oxidised form of the protein had absorbance maxima at 457 nm and 390 nm, with shoulders at 350 nm and 550 nm. These absorbance maxima disappeared upon reduction of the protein by NADH or dithionite. The NADH:acceptor reductase was capable of reducing either one- or two-electron acceptors, such as horse heart cytochrome c or 2,6-dichloroindophenol, at an optimal pH of 8.5. The reductase was found to have a Km value for NADH of 22 μM. The oxidation of NADH was determined to be stereospecific; the enzyme is pro-R (class A enzyme). The titration of the reductase with NADH or dithionite yielded three distinct reduced forms of the enzyme: the reduction of the [2Fe-2S] center occurred with a midpoint redox potential of -171 mV; and the reduction of FAD to FAD• (semiquinone form), with a calculated midpoint redox potential of -244 mV. The reduction of FAD• to FAD•• (dihydroquinone form), the last stage of the titration, occurred with a midpoint redox potential of -297 mV. The [2Fe-2S] center could be removed from the protein by treatment with an excess of mersalyl acid. The [2Fe-2S]-depleted protein was still reduced by NADH, giving rise to the formation of the anionic flavin semiquinone observed in the native enzyme, thus suggesting that the electron flow was NADH → FAD → [2Fe-2S] in this reductase. The resulting protein could no longer reduce cytochrome c, but could reduce 2,6-dichloroindophenol at a reduced rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the spin-state equilibrium of adrenal mitochondrial P450scc (cholesterolside-chain-cleaving, CYP11A1) by absorption spectroscopy in the Soret band as a function of pH and temperature. The van't Hoff plot of the high-spin/low-spin equilibrium is not linear and is shifted towards high spin by lowering the pH. This non-linearity resolves clearly into two phases when the temperature range is extended from 37°C to -20°C using ethylene glycol as anti-freeze cosolvent. This enabled us to measure the enthalpy and entropy changes which are ΔHA =0.7 kJ · mol-1 and ΔSA = 5 J · K-1 · mol-1 at low temperatures and ΔHB = -42 kJ · mol-1 and ΔSB = - 152 J · K-1 · mol-1 at high temperatures. The transition temperature, Tbreak, between both phases decreases as a function of pH. The experimental data can be fitted by a minimal reactional model comprising a temperature dependent conformational transition and two ionisation steps (one for each conformation), the pK of which is 1.5 ± 0.5 higher in the low-temperature conformation. The deduced conformational equilibrium is affected by physiological effectors: Tbreak depends on the nature of the substrate intermediate and on the presence of the physiological electron donor, adrenodoxin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of phosphorylation of phenylalanine hydroxylase was determined in isolated intact rat hepatocytes. 32P-labeled phenylalanine hydroxylase was immunoisolated from cells loaded with 32P1 or from cell extracts 'back-phosphorylated' with [γ-32P]ATP by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The rate of phenylalalanine hydroxylase phosphorylation in cells with elevated camp was similar to that observed for the isolated enzyme phosphorylated by homogeneous cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The phosphorylation rate in cAMP-stimulated cells was increased up to four times (reaching 0.018 s-1) by the presence of phenylalanine, the phosphate content (mol/mol hydroxylase) increasing to 0.5 from the basal level (0.17) in 50 s. The half maximal effect of phenylalanine hydroxylase cofactor dimethyltetrahydropterin also enhanced the cAMP-stimulated phosphorylation of phenylalanine hydroxylase, presumably by displacing the endogenous cofactor, tetrahydrobiopterin. Phenylalanine was a negative modulator of the phosphorylation of phenylalanine hydroxylase induced by incubating cells with vasopressin or with the phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid. The response to elevated cAMP. The available evidence suggested that not only vasopressin, bu also okadaic acid, acted by stimulating the multifunctional Ca2a/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II or a kinase with closely resembling properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant dissociation of FMN from NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase resulted in loss of the activity for reduction of cytochrome b5 as well as cytochrome c and cytochrome P-450. However, the ability to reduce these electron acceptors was greatly restored upon incubation of FMN-depleted enzyme with added FMN. The reductions of cytochrome c and detergent-solubilized cytochrome b5 by NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase were greatly increased in the presence of high concentrations of KCl, although the stimulatory effect of the salt on cytochrome P-450 reduction was less significant. No apparent effect of superoxide dismutase could be seen on the rate or extent of cytochrome reduction in solutions containing high-salt concentrations. Complex formation of the flavoprotein with cytochrome c, which is known to be involved in the mechanism of non-physiological electron transfer, caused a perturbation in the absorption spectrum in the Soret-band region of cytochrome c, and its magnitude was enhanced by addition of KCl. Similarly, an appreciable increase in ellipticity in the Sorer band of cytochrome c was observed upon binding with the flavoprotein. However. only small changes were found in absorption and circular dichroism spectra for the complex of NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase with either cytochrome b5 or cytochrome P-450. It is suggested that the high-salt concentration allows closer contact between the heine and flavin prosthetic groups through hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions rather than electrostatic-charge pairing between the flavoprotein and the cytochrome which causes a faster rate of electron transfer. Neither alterations in the chemical shift nor in the line width of the bound FMN and FAD phosphate resonances were observed upon complex formation of NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase with the cytochrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hepatic metabolism of steroid hormones and of xenobiotics frequently depends on the expression of the sex-specific isoforms of cytochrome P-450 and on differences in sex hormones. Following biochemical, immunological and molecular biological investigations, it was shown that in adult rat liver there exist at least four male-specific and one female-specific isoforms of cytochrome P-450. The designation of these sex-specific genes is IIC11, 111A2, IIC13 and IIA2 in males, and IIC12 in females. The irreversible programming of the expression of these isoforms of cytochrome P-450 in adulthood occurs during the perinatal period of life, and is named enzyme imprinting. One of the main factors that regulates the expression of the sex- specific isoforms of cytochrome P-450 is the level of androgens in the blood. Castration of adult rats decreased the level of the male isoforms of cytochrome P-450 and the activity of the monooxygenase enzyme system that remained higher than in intact females. The mechanism of enzyme imprinting can be explained as follows: neonatal and rogens program the secretion of hypothalamic hormones, somatostatin and growth-hormone-releasing factor. These factors determine the type of growth hormone secretion in adult rats, and this controls the type of sex-specific isoforms of cytochrome P450 expressed in adulthood. Metabolic regulation similar to that outlined above was shown to occur for several metabolism-dependent chemical carcinogens. Such a pathway may explain the different sensitivity displayed by male and female rats to treatment with these carcinogenic agents. One possible way of modulating the expression of some isoforms of cytochrome P450 in adult rats is by treating neonates with specific xenobiotics that change the constitutive expression of neonatal androgens. it appears that this enzyme imprinting plays an important role in determining the individual sensitivity to the carcinogenic effects of chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine) are potent inhibitors of phenylalanine 4-monooxygenase (phenylalanine hydroxylase, EC 1.14.16.1). The amines bind to the enzyme by a direct coordination to the high-spin (S = 5/2) Fe(III) at the active site (charge transfer interaction), as seen by resonance Raman and EPR spectroscopy. Experimental evidence ts presented that a group with an apparent pKa value of about 5.1 (20°C) is involved in the interaction between the catecholamine and the enzyme. The high-affinity binding of L-noradrenaline to phenylalanine hydroxylase, as studied by equilibrium microdialysis (anaerobically) and ultrafiltration (aerobically), shows positive cooperativity (h = 1.9); at pH 7.2 and 20°C the rat enzyme binds about 0.5 mol L-noradrenaline/mol subunit with a half-maximal binding (S50) at 0.25 µM L-noradrenaline. No binding to the ferrous form of the enzyme was observed. The affinity decreases with decreasing pH, by phosphorylation and by preincubation of the enzyme with the substrate L-phenylalanine, while it increases after alkylation of the enzyme with the activator N-ethylmaleimide. Preincubation of the enzyme with L-phenylalanine also leads to a complete loss of the cooperativity of L-noradrenaline binding (h = 1.0). The many similarities in binding properties of the inhibitor L-noradrenaline and the activator/substrate L-phenylalanine makes it likely that the cooperative interactions of these effectors are due to their binding to the same site. The high-affinity of catecholamines to phenylalanine hydroxylase is a valuable probe to study the active site of this enzyme and is also relevant for the homologous enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase, which is purified as a stable catecholamine-Fe(III) complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocytes from adult and newborn humans were put into primary culture and exposed to phenobarbital, 3-methylcholanthrene, or rifampicin, three well-known inducers of cytochrome P.450 in animals. The expression of four cytochrome P450 enzymes (or groups of enzymes, namely P450 IIIA. P-450 IICS/9/10, P450 lIE1, and P-450 1A2) was investigated. These enzymes were found to remain expressed during the period of culture studied. Treatment with the inducers for three days resulted in different responses. depending upon the inducer and the enzyme. Phenobarbital and rifampicin increased P-450 11C89/10 mRNA transcripts and the corresponding protein, while 3-methytcholanthrene was ineffective. Both P-450 IIlA mRNA and protein were strongly induced by rifampicin. All of the hepatocytes were found to synthesize P-450 IIlA in response to rifampicin, as shown by immunoperoxidase staining. P-450 IIlA expression was not affected by phenobarbital and was decreased by 3- methyicholanthrene. P-450s 1A2 and IIE1 decreased to 25- 50% of the initial level during these cultures. P-450 1A2 and ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity (which is a menooxygenase activity related to P.450 IA family) were increased only by 3-methyleholanthrene and did not respond to the other inducers. P-450 IIEI was not induced by any of these compounds. P-450 IIC8/9/10 and P450 lIlA mRNA levels were also measured in human hepatocytes from one newborn. P450 11C8/9/10 was barely expressed in freshly isolated cells but increased dramaticaily with time in culture. P.450 IIlA transcripts were abundant in both freshly isolated and cultured cells derived from a newborn. These results clearly demonstrate that human hepatocytes continue to express cytochrome P450 enzymes and respond to inducers in culture. This model system provides a useful approach for investigating the effects of drugs on maturation and expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes in human liver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous report we have described some properties of a novel flavoenzyme from a denitrifying Pseudomonas species which catalyzes the oxygen- and NAD(P)H-dependent conversion of 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA [Buder, R., Ziegler, K.. Fuchs, O., Langkau, B. & Chisla. S. (1989) Eur. J. Biochem. 185, 637-634]. in this paper, we report on the identification of the three products formed from 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA in this reaction. The spectroscopic data and the chemical properties of these compounds and those of their degradation products are compatible with the structures of 2-amino-5-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA, 2-amino-5-hydroxycyclohex-1-enecarboxyl-CoA and of 2-amino-5-oxocyclohex-1-enecarboxyl-CoA. The latter is the main product and was found to be rather unstable since it hydrolyzes and decarboxylates readily at pH < 5. Ammonia is released from the decarboxylation product in the neutral ph range to yield 1,4-cyclohexanedione. Conditions were optimized such that the CoA thioester of 2-amino- 5-hydroxybenzoate is the product obtained at > 98% yield. 2-amino-5-hydroxycyclohex-1-enecarboxyl-C0A is the product which is formed when the mixture of the reaction products is treated with sodium borohydride before separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have isolated and analyzed cDNA (designated P-450HP cDNA) clones from a human placenta cDNA library, using the cDNA for rabbit pulmonary cytochrome P-450p-2, a prostaglandin ω-hydroxylase, as a hybridization probe. The cDNA obtained encoded a polypeptide comprising 511 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 58987 Da, and the amino acid sequence similarity with P-450p-2 and rat liver laurate ω- hydroxylase (P-450LAω) was only about 50%. RNA blot analysis showed that the mRNA hybridizable with the human P-450HP cDNA was inducibly expressed 3–5-fold in rabbit small intestine and lung by gestation, but the expression remained constant in rabbit liver and kidney. This mode of expression was quite different from that of P-450p-2 and P-450LAω. Interestingly, the mRNA hybridized with the cDNA of P-450HP was found to be expressed in all the human tumor tissues so far examined, in sharp contrast with the facts that almost all the other species of P-450s are known to disappear in the tumor tissues. Taken together, the deduced hemoprotein termed P-450HP dose not seem to be the human counterpart of rabbit P-450p-2 or rat P-450LAω, and is presumably a new member of the P-450 family including P-450p-2 and P-450LAω. Furthermore, the corresponding genomic DNA was also cloned and analyzed. The gene of P-450HP spanned 18.8 kb and was separated into 11 exons by 10 introns whose locations were completely different from those of P-450 genes so far determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel aerobic mechanism of 2-aminobenzoate metabolism was proposed in a denitrifying Pseudomonas species. 2-Aminobenzoic acid is activated in a coenzyme-A-ligase reaction to 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA and this intermediate is dearomatized by a unique enzyme, tentatively named 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA monooxygenase/ reductase. This paper describes the purification and some molecular, kinetic and spectral properties of this flavoenzyme which catalyzes the hydroxylation and reduction of 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA to an unknown nonaromatic compound. 2-Aminobenzoyl-CoA monooxygenase/reductase was purified 25-fold to a specific activity of 25 µmol · min-1 · mg-1 protein using ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-cellulose anion-exchange, hydroxylapatite and Mono Q FPLC anion-exchange chromatography. Superose 6 gel filtration for estimation of molecular mass resulted in one symmetrical protein peak corresponding to a molecular mass of 170 kDa. Several experimental data suggest that the protein is probably an α2 dimer; however, it may exist in three dimeric forms, αα, αα' and α'α', where α' may be a subunit with a different conformation. Approximately 2 mol noncovalently bound FAD/ mol enzyme was found, which in the absence of O2 was reduced by NADH. The enzyme was specific for the substrates 2-aminobenzoyl-CoA (Km ≤ 25 µM) and O2 (Km ≤ 5 µM), but less specific for the reduced pyridine nucleotides NADH (Km = 42 µM) or NADPH [Km = 500 µM; V,max (NADH)/Vmax (NADPH) = 1.7:1]. The turnover number was 4250 min-1. The enzyme also reduced N-ethylmaleimide and maleimide with NAD(P)H. The substrate, the products and the reaction stoichiometry are described in two following papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pravastatin sodium (CS-514) is a tissue-selective inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, a key enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis. This compound is obtained by microbial hydroxylation of sodium ML-236B (compactin) carboxylate. The soluble cytochrome P-450 was induced by sodium ML-236B carboxylate in Streptomyces carhophilus of Actinomycetes as detected in its cell-free extract. This cytochrome P-450 was designated as cytochrome P-450sca after its origin. Cytochrome P-450sca was purified by successive chromatography on anion-exchange, gel filtration and hydroxyapatite columns. On hydroxyapatite cytochrome P-450sca was further separated into minor and major peaks, designated cytochrome P-450sca-1 and cytochrome P-450sca-2, respectively. Each peak yielded a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gels with molecular masses of 46 ± 1 kDa. The activity hydroxylating sodium ML-236B carboxylate to pravastatin sodium was reconstituted in the presence of an electron transport system, an NADPH-generating system and oxygen. The Ks values of the cytochromes P-450sca-1 and P-450sca-2 for sodium ML-236B carboxylate were 179 μM and 229 μM, respectively. The CO versus reduced difference spectra of both cytochromes P-450 showed an absorption maximum at 448.5 nm. Their substrate difference spectra with sodium ML-236B carboxylate showed an absorption maximum at 386 nm. Amino acid analysis indicated that cytochrome P-450sca-1 and P-450sca-2 contained 46% and 47% hydrophobic residues, respectively. On Western blotting, cytochromes P-450sca-1 and P-450sca-2 were immunologically identical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the use of chemical models for cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenases to understand about the mechanisms of cytochrome P-450 during the metabolism of drugs or exogenous compounds to determine the chemical functions responsible for the formation of inhibitory complexes which have important consequences in pharmacology and toxicology. Catalytically active chemical systems are developed to reproduce the main reactions catalyzed by cytochromes P-450. The main characteristics of the enzymatic systems that can be reproduced by chemical models are discussed.

Heme compounds, in combination with a reducing agent and oxygen, can express various activities of cytochrome P-450 enzymes. In the present study it was found that a mixture of hemin and excess cysteine was able to degrade the insecticide DDT partially. The major products were three water-soluble, non-toxic conjugates of DDT metabolites with cysteine which had lost two or three of the five chlorine atoms of DDT per molecule and whose structures were elucidated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. In 0.05 M NH4HCO3, pH 7.7/ ethanol (5:6, by vol.), the degradation reaction catalyzed by the hemin-cysteine model system was at least 8 × 104 times faster than the uncatalyzed reaction. In the presence of a designed 24-residues polypeptide or β-casein, two DDT-binding proteins, an additional fourfold increase in the rate of DDT degradation was observed. Although the concentrations of DDT and cysteine occurring in an organism would be expected to be lower than those in the experiments described, the formation of water-soluble conjugates of DDT metabolites with cysteine (and other amino acids) could also play a role in metabolism and excretion of DDT in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The membrane-bound (particulate) form of methane monooxygenase from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) has been solubilised using the non-ionic detergent dodecyl-β-D-maltoside. A wide variety of detergents were tested and found to solubilise membrane proteins but did not yield methane monooxygenase in a form that could be subsequently activated. After solubilisation with dodecyl-β-D-maltoside, enzyme activity was recovered using either egg or soya-bean lipids. Attempts to further purify the solubilized methane monooxygenaser protein into its component polypeptides were unsuccessful and resulted in complete loss of enzyme activity. The major polypeptides present in the solubitised enzyme had molecular masses of 49 kDa, 23 kDa and 22 kDa which were similar to those seen in crude extracts [Prior, S. D. & Dalton H. (1985) J. Gen. Microbiol. 131, 155-163]. Studies on substrate and inhibitor specificities indicated that the membrane-associated and solubilised forms of methane monooxygenase were quite similar to each other but differed substantially from the well-characterised soluble methane monooxygenase found in cells grown in a low copper regime and synthesised independently of the particulate methane monooxygenase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Administration of the food carcinogen, 2-amino-3-methyl-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) to rats gave rise to significant dose-dependent increases in the microsomal O-deethylations of ethoxycoumarin and ethoxyresorufin but had no effect on the O-dealkylation of pentoxyresorufin and the NADPH-dependent reduction of cytochrome c, and decreased the N-demethylation of dimethylnitrosamine. Microsomal cytochrome b5 and total cytochrome P-450 levels decreased following the administration of the carcinogen. 2. Hepatic microsomal preparations from IQ-treated animals were much more efficient than control in activating the premutagen 2-amino-6-methyldipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole to mutagenic intermediates in the Ames test. 3. Immunoquantification of two of the major families of cytochrome P450, namely P450 I and P450 II B, using ELISA techniques showed that treatment with IQ induced the apoprotein levels of the P450 I family but not of P450 II B. 4. Immunoblot analysis employing polyclonal antibodies against P450 I revealed that IQ induced both isoenzymes of this family, namely P450 I A1 and A2. 5. It is concluded that IQ is an inducer of the rat hepatic monooxygenases, selectively inducing the P450 I family as predicted by a computer-graphic analysis of its dimensions which showed that it is a large, essentially planar, molecule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A soluble cyclohexanone monooxygenase was purified 16.1-fold to homogeneity from a Xanthobacter sp. grown upon cyclohexane as sole source of carbon and energy. The native enzyme is a 50-kDa single polypeptide chain associated with FMN rather than FAD as flavin prosthetic group in a 1:1 stoichiometric relationship. The monooxygenase catalyses the transformation of cyclohexanone to the lactone 1-oxa-2-oxocycloheptane in an oxygen ring insertion reaction. Only related cycloalkanone substrates are accepted for oxygenation, no activity is shown towards straight-chain alkanones. Enzyme activity is strongly inhibited by sulphydryl-reactive agents, but is relatively insensitive to metal chelators, electron transport inhibitors and the metal ions Fe3+ and Cu2+. Cyclohexanone monooxygenase has Km values for cyclohexanone and NADPH of <0.5 µM and 12.5 µM respectively. Kinetic investigations under steady-state conditions demonstrate that the flavoprotein prosthetic group, FMN, is involved in the monooxygenase catalytic mechanism. The systematic name for the enzyme is cyclohexanone, NADPH: oxygen oxidoreductase (6-hydroxylating, 1,2-lactonizing) (EC 1.14.13.22). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. 4-Methoxybenzoate monooxygenase is fairly nonspecific. The enzyme system with putidamonooxin as its oxygen-activating component catalyses: (a) O-, S- and N-demethylation; (b) the oxygenation of 4-methylbenzoate and 4-methylmercaptobenzoate, with formation of 4-carboxybenzyl alcohol and 4-carboxyphenylmethyl sulfoxide, respectively, and (c) attack of the aromatic ring of 4- and 3-hydroxybenzoate and 4-aminobenzoate, yielding 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate and 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzoate, respectively. 2. Compounds which are bound by the active sites of putidamonooxin have two essential features in common: a planar aromatic ring system, and a free carboxyl group attached to it. 3. By a substrate-modulated reaction putidamonooxin can be induced to function not only as a monooxygenase but also as a peroxotransferase, i.e. it incorporates both atoms of the activated oxygen molecule into a substrate molecule. This finding supports the hypothesis that a mesomeric state of the iron · peroxo complex, [FeO2]+, is indeed the active oxygenating species of putidamonooxin. 4. The lifetime of the ternary complex consisting of enzyme · iron-peroxo-complex · substrate is significantly prolonged by uncoupling and partially uncoupling substrates, except when it is inactivated by protonation of the iron · peroxo complex by a proton transported into the active sites by a special kind of substrate (i.e. isomers of monoaminobenzoate), with the direct formation of H2O2. 5. The lifetime of the active oxygen species is determined by (a) the rate of the oxygenation reaction in the presence of tight-coupling substrates and (b) the rate of the oxygenation reaction as well as detoxification by the availability of a dissociable proton in the presence of partial uncoupling (and uncoupling) substrate analogues. 6. The rate of the oxygenation reaction depends on the lifetime of the active oxygen species, [FeO2]+, in the presence of partial uncoupling substrates. 7. The iron · peroxo complex attacks an aromatic ring system according to the empiric rules of electrophilic substitution, whereas the attack of aliphatic substituents at the aromatic ring is controlled by stearic criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monooxygenase activities have been examined in rat liver to determine the effects of castration and hypophysectomy on cytochrome P-450 species. In adult males, hypophysectomy caused a decrease of total P-450 concentration, aniline hydroxylase, benzopyrene hydroxylase, benzphetamine demethylase, testosterone hydroxylase and imipramine hydroxylase and demethylase activities. The treatment of hypophysectomized animals with human growth hormone or testosterone did not restore the full activity. When probed with antibodies, microsomes from hypophysectomized males and females exhibited an intense reaction with a polyclonal anti-(phenobarbital-induced P-450) which was not observed with a monoclonal antibody of anti-(phenobarbital-induced P-450). These microsomal preparations also reacted with an antibody raised against a developmentally regulated P-450. No sex difference could be detected with this antibody. Furthermore, administration of human growth hormone to hypophysectomized males prevented this immunoreaction. Total RNA has been prepared from the same liver; when probed with cDNAs, no changes occurred in the content in P-450 h/e, PB 24 (a constitutive member of the phenobarbital subfamily) and phenobarbital-inducible mRNA for UDP-glucuronosyltransferase. In contrast, P-450 mRNA induced by pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile was modulated by hormonal manipulations: lower in females and castrated males than in intact males, increased in both sexes after hypophysectomy. Treatment of hypophysectomized males with human growth hormone abolished this rise in pregnenolone-16acarbonitrile- induced P-450 mRNA accumulation. Data collected in this study support the assumption that hypophysectomy acts differently on the regulation of various P-450 isozymes and that this regulation clearly does not involve the phenobarbital subfamily of P-450s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using specific antibodies against adrenodoxin reductase (AR), we screened ∼ gt11 cDNA expression libraries constructed from bovine adrenal cortex mRNA, and isolated several putative clones coding for this enzyme. Concurrently we determined the amino acid sequences of fragments from it. A deoxyinosine-containing oligonucleotide probe, generated for one of the sequences, reacted specifically with one of the cloned cDNAs of about 1600 base pairs. The codon sequence of this cDNA matched the peptide sequences, further confirming its identity as a copy of AR mRNA. RNA blot analysis indicates that in the adrenal cortex and corpus luteum there is only one major mRNA (≈ 2000 bp) for AR. The levels of this mRNA are at least 40-fold lower in the liver and kidney which are also known to contain in homologue of AR. As compared to adrenodoxin and cytochrome P450scc mRNAs, AR mRNA levels in the adrenal cortex appear to be about 10-fold lower. Southern blot analysis of bovine and human genomic DNAs reveals that in both of these species there is only one gene for AR. These results indicate that only a single reductase serves the different mitochondrial P-450 systems in steroidogenic tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catalytic mechanism of tyrosine 3-monooxygenase (tyrosine hydroxylase, EC 1.14.16.2), isolated from the cytosolic fraction of bovine adrenal medulla, was studied by new techniques of product isolation and characterization. Using either (6R)-tetrahydrobiopterin, (6RS)-tetrahydroneopterin, or 6-methyl-tetrahydropterin, as the cofactors, three enzymatic oxidation products could be isolated and identified from the reaction mixture by high-performance liquid chromatography and rapid-scanning spectroscopy: (a) the 4a-hydroxy derivatives, (b) the quinonoid dihydropterins, and (c) the stable 7,8-dihydropterins. Stopped-flow spectroscopy revealed that the formation of the 4a-hydroxy-tetrahydropterins preceded the formation of the quinonoid forms with both L-tyrosine and L-phenylalanine as the substrate. The formations of 4a-hydroxy-tetrahydropterins and hydroxylated amino acids were tightly coupled as recently shown in the phenylalanine 4-monooxygenase reaction [Haavik, J., Døskeland, A. P. & Flatmark, T. (1986) Eur. J. Biochem. 160, 1-–81. No detectable carbinolamine dehydratase activity was present in the enzyme preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytochrome c-554 of the ammonia-oxidizing chemolithoautotropic bacteria is thought to mediate electron transfer from hydroxylamine oxidoreductase to a terminal oxidase and/or to ammonia monooxygenase. The cytochrome has four c heroes which interact magnetically and have the same redox potential. We report that the kinetics of reduction of ferric cytochrome c-554 by dithionite or the oxidation of ferrous cytochrome c-554 by O2 or H2O2 are complex and multiphasic. Transient rapid-scan difference spectra indicate discrete maxima at approximately 418 nm, 425 nm and 432 nm. Absorbance changes at all three difference maxima appear to occur in all kinetic phases, although not in equal amounts for each wavelength. Reduction by 20 mM dithionite was biphasic. At pH 7.5 the first phase, which involved approximately 50% of the total absorbance change, had a rate constant (20°C) of 140 s-1 and energy of activation of 20 kJ · tool- 1. The slow phase had a rate constant 0.43 s-1 and a relatively high energy of activation, 87 kJ · mol-1, suggesting that a change in protein configuration accompanied the reaction. As the pH of the solution increased, the rate constant for both phases decreased and the fraction of absorbance change in the rapid phase increased. Oxidation of ferrous cytochrome c-554 by O2 involved a discrete rapid phase with a rate constant of 14 s-1, accounting for 6% of the absorbance. The remainder of the reaction was multiphasic with rate constants in the range 0.1-0.01 s-1. With H2O2 as the oxidant, the rapid phase involved 39% of the change in absorbance with a rate constant of 19 s-1. The remainder of the reoxidation was multiphasic with rate constants ranging over 0.4-0.01 s-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cytochrome P-450-dependent metabolism of n-pentane was studied by head-space gas chromatographic analysis of incubations with liver microsomes and reconstituted systems form rat and rabbit liver. The alkane wa metabolized in liver microsomes from imidazole-treated rabbits at an apparent Vmax of 3 nmol mg-1 min-1 and a Km of 35µM and in liver microsomes from acetone-treated rats at an apparent Vmax of 10 nmol mg-1 min-1 and a Km of 9 µM. The rate of microsomal n-pentane metabolism was enhanced fiverfold by acetone treatment of rats, compared to the rate observed in liver microsomes from control rats. The reaction was inhibited in microsomes by compounds that are known to interact with the acetone and ethanol-inducible form of liver microsomal cytochrome P-450, like acetone, imidazole, ethanol and benzene. Effective inhibition was also accomplished when microsomal incubations were performed in the presence of IgG against this form of cytochrome P-450 from either rat or rabbit liver. In reconstituted membrane vesicles containing NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase, ethanol-inducible P-450 from rat liver (P-450j) was a fiverfold more efficient catalyst of pentane metabolism than was the corresponding P-450 form from rabbit liver (P-450 LMab). The rabbit enzyme metabolized the hydrocarbon with an apparent Vmax of 4 nmol nmol-1 min-1 and a Km of 8 µM. By contrast, phenobarbital-inducible P-450 LM2 or 3-methylcholanthrene-inducible P-450 LM4 from rabbit liver were quite ineffective catalysts of n-pentane metabolism. It is concluded that n-pentane constitutes a good substrate for cytochrome P-450 and, in particular, for the ethanol-inducible form of this hemoprotein. It is suggested that n-pentane is an important substrate for P-450 under in vivo conditions and that pentane measurements in expired air as an indicator of lipid peroxidation must be interpreted with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]