Metabolism of the cis and trans isomers of N-nitroso-2,6-dimethylmorpholine and their deuterated analogs by liver microsomes of rat and hamster

Liver microsomes from male Syrian golden hamsters and Sprague Dawley rats metabolize the cis and trans isomers of N-nitroso-2,6-dimethylmorpholine (NNDM) to N-nitroso-(2-hydroxypropyl)(2-oxopropyl)amine (HPOP) as the major product detectable by h.p.l.c. The rates of total metabolism are similar for both the cis and trans isomers; but the cis isomer of NNDM yields greater than 70% of the total product as HPOP while the trans isomer yields HPOP only as a minor product (20-30%) in both hamster and rat. The inability to identify other products could be attributed to alpha-hydroxylation which leads to fragmentation of NNDM and loss of tritium label to water. In order to investigate the possibility of the participation of an alpha-hydroxylation reaction, the metabolism of NNDM fully deuterated at either the 3 and 5 (alpha-d4) or the 2 and 6 (beta-d2) positions was examined and compared to the metabolism of the undeuterated compound (d0). Although the rates of metabolism of all the cis and trans derivatives of NNDM were similar (VMax = 2.13 nmol/min/mg hamster microsomal protein) as determined from measurements of substrate disappearance, the yields of HPOP were different. Maximum HPOP yields were observed with cis alpha-(d4) NNDM (93.9% of the total), followed by cis d0 NNDM (72.3%), trans alpha-(d4) NNDM (60.1%), trans d0 NNDM (30.2%), cis beta-(d2) NNDM (19.5%) and trans beta-(d2) NNDM (8.5%). These results suggest that alpha-hydroxylation is an alternative to beta-hydroxylation. Since the carcinogenic potency of the various deuterium derivatives of NNDM for the Syrian golden hamster parallels their ability to yield HPOP, beta-hydroxylation is closely related to pancreatic carcinogenesis in the hamster. Rat liver microsomal fractions showed the same patterns of HPOP formation to total metabolite yields as hamster liver microsomes with both the cis and trans isomers. However, rates of NNDM metabolism and HPOP formation were 7 times faster with hamster than with rat liver microsomes. Such a difference may be related to the failure of the cis isomer to induce pancreatic cancer in rats.

Peroxidase-catalyzed N-demethylation reactions. Substrate deuterium isotope effects

Deuterium isotope effects on the kinetic parameters for the hydroperoxide-supported N-demethylation of N,N-dimethylaniline catalyzed by chloroperoxidase and horseradish peroxidase were determined using N,N-di-(trideuteromethyl)aniline. The isotope effect on the Vmax for the chloroperoxidase-catalyzed demethylation reaction supported by ethyl hydroperoxide was 1.42 +/- 0.31. The isotope effects on the Vmax for the horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed reaction supported by ethyl hydroperoxide and hydrogen peroxide were 1.99 +/- 0.39 and 4.09 +/- 0.27, respectively. Isotope effects ranging from 1.76 to 5.10 were observed on the Vmax/Km for the hydroperoxide substrate (i.e. the second order rate constant for the reaction of the hydroperoxide with the peroxidase to form compound I) in both enzyme systems when the N-methyl groups of N,N-dimethylaniline were deuterated. These results are not predicted by the simple ping-pong kinetic model for peroxidase-catalyzed N-demethylation reactions. The data are most simply explained by a mechanism involving the transfer of deuterium (or hydrogen) from N,N-dimethylaniline to the enzyme during catalysis. The deuterium must subsequently be displaced from the enzyme by the hydroperoxide, causing the observed isotope effects.

The use of intramolecular isotope effects to distinguish between deprotonation and hydrogen atom abstraction mechanisms in cytochrome P-450- and peroxidase-catalyzed N-demethylation reactions

Intramolecular isotope effects were determined for the N-demethylation of N-methyl-N-trideuteriomethylaniline catalyzed by two isozymes of cytochrome P-450 and several peroxidases in order to differentiate between deprotonation and hydrogen atom abstraction steps. Lactoperoxidase, hemoglobin, myoglobin, and two isozymes of horseradish peroxidase catalyzed the hydroperoxide-dependent N-demethylation at initial rates ranging from 20 to 1700 min-1. These hemeproteins exhibited large and comparable intramolecular isotope effects (kH/kD = 8.6 to 10.1). In contrast, two isozymes of cytochrome P-450 as well as chloroperoxidase (v = 1.5 to 1700 min-1) gave low isotope effects (kH/kD = 1.7 to 3.1) under identical conditions. Catalase exhibited an intermediate intramolecular isotope effect (kH/kD = 5.4). These results have been interpreted to indicate that most of the hemeproteins investigated catalyze N-demethylation reactions via alpha-carbon hydrogen atom abstraction, while the reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P-450 and chloroperoxidase proceed via alpha-carbon deprotonation.

Metabolism of pancreatic carcinogens N-nitroso-2,6-dimethylmorpholine and N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine by microsomes and cytosol of hamster pancreas and liver

Liver preparations from Syrian golden hamsters catalyze the metabolism of the pancreatic carcinogen N-nitroso-2,6-dimethylmorpholine largely to N-nitroso(2-hydroxypropyl)(2-oxopropyl)amine (HPOP). This reaction is catalyzed by a mixed-function oxidase in the presence of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and oxygen at a rate of 3.8 nmol/min/mg of protein, and it is inhibited by known cytochrome P-450-specific inhibitors. A second potent pancreatic carcinogen N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine (BOP) is converted to HPOP by hamster liver in which two enzyme systems appear to be involved. The first is a reductase associated with microsomes which reduces BOP to HPOP in the presence of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide at a rate of 9.1 nmol/min/mg of protein. The second enzyme is a cytosolic one which catalyzes the same reaction at a slower rate (2.3 nmol/min/mg of protein) and is more effective with reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate as cofactor. Based on the amount of protein in hepatic cytosol and endoplasmic reticulum, the two enzymes may be involved to a similar extent in the reduction of BOP to HPOP in the liver. Pancreas, on the other hand, lacks the microsomal reductase for BOP but contains a cytosolic enzyme which catalyzes its reduction in the presence of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate at a rate of 0.35 nmol/min/mg of protein. Since both pancreatic carcinogens N-nitroso-2,6-dimethylmorpholine and BOP are metabolized to HPOP in the liver at rates much higher than those observed in the target organ pancreas, it is suggested that the liver may play an important role in pancreatic carcinogenesis in the hamster by these compounds.

Steady state kinetics of chloroperoxidase-catalyzed N-demethylation reactions

The kinetic mechanism of the chloroperoxidase-catalyzed N-demethylation of N,N-dimethylaniline supported by ethyl hydroperoxide was determined from initial rate and inhibition studies. When the concentration of N,N-dimethylaniline was varied in the presence of several different fixed concentrations of ethyl hydroperoxide, a double reciprocal plot of the data gave a series of parallel lines. Parallel lines were also observed when the data were plotted as a function of the concentration of ethyl hydroperoxide. A linear double reciprocal plot was obtained when the concentrations of both substrates were varied in a constant ratio. Competitive substrate inhibition was observed for N,N-dimethylaniline with a KI of 4.78 mM. Competitive substrate inhibition was also observed for ethyl hydroperoxide but the secondary replot of the slopes of the double reciprocal lines versus the concentrations of ethyl hydroperoxide intercepted the origin, indicating that no abortive binary complex between ethyl hydroperoxide and the enzyme was formed. These results suggested that the inhibition of the demethylation reaction by ethyl hydroperoxide was due to the reaction of ethyl hydroperoxide with chloroperoxidase compound I to evolve oxygen. N,N-Dimethylaniline inhibited the chloroperoxidase-catalyzed evolution of oxygen from ethyl hydroperoxide with a KI (0.111 mM) essentially identical with its KM for demethylation (0.122 mM). The inhibition of the demethylation reaction by 2,5-dimethylfuran was competitive with respect to N,N-dimethylaniline and uncompetitive with respect to ethyl hydroperoxide, consistent with dead-end inhibition in a ping-pong system. The results of the initial rate and inhibition studies are consistent with a Ping Pong Bi Bi mechanism as the minimal kinetic model for chloroperoxidase-catalyzed N-demethylation reactions. In this model, ethyl hydroperoxide reacts with chloroperoxidase to form the oxidized enzyme intermediate compound I with the concomitant release of ethanol. N,N-Dimethylaniline then binds to compound I and is oxidized, resulting in the formation of N-methylaniline and formaldehyde and the regeneration of the native peroxidase.

An estradiol-responsive mouse endometrial cell strain with inducible aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity

A mouse endometrial cell population has been isolated by mild tryptic digestion of the uterine lining. The cells were morphologically similar to endometrial gland cells in the intact mouse endometrial gland. The endometrial cells had a modal chromosome number of 66. The cells were adherent to glass as well as plastic and contained numerous large refractile, osmophilic, non-membrane-limited granules which stain with periodic acid-Schiff reagent but do not stain with oil red O, Sudan black, or Alcian blue. Cell growth was responsive to 17 beta-estradiol; cell number increased 1.34-fold in 4 days in the presence of 10(-8) M estradiol. The cells are not tumorigenic. The cells showed induction of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity when 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) was added to the growth media for 24 h. AHH activity and its induction were investigated with cells grown in the presence and absence 10(-8) M estradiol. Cells grown in media containing estradiol exhibited a 6.2-fold induction by TCDD; cells grown without estradiol gave an 8.4-fold induction of AHH activity. AHH activity and its induction by TCDD were demonstrated in cells grown with fetal calf serum that had been pretreated with dextran-coated charcoal to remove endogenous steroids. Benzanthracene failed to induce AHH activity significantly.

Characterization of the N-demethylation reactions catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase

The hydroperoxide-supported N-demethylation reactions catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase have been characterized in detail. The ethyl hydroperoxide-supported N-demethylation of N,N-dimethylaniline by horseradish peroxidase resulted in the formation of equimolar amounts of N-methylaniline and formaldehyde with no other products detectable by high performance liquid chromatography analysis of the reaction mixture. One molecule of ethyl hydroperoxide was consumed for each molecule of formaldehyde formed in the reaction. Similar results were obtained for the hydrogen peroxide-supported N-demethylation of N,N-dimethylaniline. The horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed N-demethylation reaction could be supported by a variety of hydroperoxides, peroxides, and peracids. The turnover number for the hydrogen peroxide-supported demethylation reaction (7061) was larger than that for the ethyl hydroperoxide-supported reaction (5382) or for chloroperoxidase- or cytochrome P-450-catalyzed dealkylations. The demethylation reaction exhibited normal Michaelis-Menten saturation kinetics with respect to N,N-dimethylaniline (Km = 0.34 mM) and ethyl hydroperoxide (Km = 0.020 mM), as well as hydrogen peroxide (Km = 0.016 mM). The horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed N-demethylation reaction was not significantly inhibited by reagents which react with the superoxide anion, the hydroxyl radical, or singlet oxygen, suggesting that these activated oxygen species are not free intermediates in the reaction. There was no significant inhibition of the reaction by alpha-phenyl-t-butylnitrone, 5,5-dimethylpyrroline-N-oxide, or other free radical trapping agents. Substitution of D2O for H2O resulted in an inhibition of the reaction with a solvent isotope effect (VH2O/VD2O) of 1.6. Horseradish peroxidase did not catalyze the demethylation of N,N-dimethylaniline-N-oxide, indicating that the reaction does not proceed via N-oxidation of the amine. When the concentrations of both N,N-dimethylaniline and ethyl hydroperoxide were varied in a constant ratio a linear double reciprocal plot was obtained, which is consistent with a ping-pong kinetic mechanism for the horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed demethylation reaction.

Source of the oxygen atom in the product of cytochrome P-450-catalyzed N-demethylation reactions

The source of the oxygen atom in the product of the cytochrome P-450-catalyzed N-demethylation of N-methylcarbazole was determined by mass spectral analysis of the carbinolamine precursor of formaldehyde formed during incubation in oxygen 18-enriched medium. Initial experiments demonstrated that N-(hydroxymethyl)carbazole, the carbinolamine product of the metabolism of N-methylcarbazole, did not exchange oxygen with solvent water. When N-methylcarbazole was incubated in oxygen 18-enriched medium with purified cytochrome P-450 in the presence of either purified NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase and NADPH, cumene hydroperoxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, or peracetic acid, there was no incorporation of oxygen 18 from the medium into N-(hydroxymethyl)carbazole. These results clearly demonstrate that the oxygen atom inserted into N-methylcarbazole by cytochrome P-450 to yield N-(hydroxymethyl)carbazole does not come from the medium and show that the N-demethylation reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P-450 proceed in a manner similar to hydroxylation reactions, with the oxygen atom in the product being derived from the oxidant.

Immunochemical identity of peroxisomal enoyl-CoA hydratase with the peroxisome-proliferation-associated 80,000 mol wt polypeptide in rat liver

Peroxisome proliferators, which induce proliferation of hepatic peroxisomes, have been shown previously to cause a marked increase in an 80,000 mol wt polypeptide predominantly in the light mitochondrial and microsomal fractions of liver of rodents. We now present evidence to show that this hepatic peroxisome-proliferation-associated polypeptide, referred to as polypeptide PPA-80, is immunochemically identical with the multifunctional peroxisome protein displaying heat-labile enoyl-CoA hydratase activity. This conclusion is based on the following observations: (a) the purified polypeptide PPA-80 and the heat- labile enoyl-CoA hydratase from livers of rats treated with the peroxisome proliferators Wy-14,643 {[4-chloro-6(2,3-xylidino)-2-pyrimidinylthio]acetic acid} exhibit identical minimum molecular weights of approximately 80,000 on SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; (b) these two proteins are immunochemically identical on the basis of ouchterlony double diffusion, immunotitration, rocket immunoelectrophoresis, and crossed immunoelectrophoresis analysis; and (c) the immunoprecipitates formed by antibodies to polypeptide PPA-80 when dissociated on a sephadex G-200 column yield enoyl-CoA hydratase activity. Whether the polypeptide PPA-80 exhibits the activity of other enzyme(s) of the peroxisomal beta-oxidation system such as fatty acyl-CoA oxidase activity or displays immunochemical identity with such enzymes remains to be determined. The availability of antibodies to polypeptide PPA-80 and enoyl-CoA hydratase facilitated immunofluorescent and immunocytochemical localization of the polypeptide PPA- 80 and enoyl-CoA hydratase in the rat liver. The indirect immunofluorescent studies with these antibodies provided direct visual evidence for the marked induction of polypeptide PPA-80 and enoyl-CoA hydratase in the livers of rats treated with Wy-14,643. The present studies also provide immunocytochemical evidence for the localization of polypeptide PPA- 80 and the heat-labile enoyl-CoA hydratase in the peroxisome, but not in the mitochondria, of hepatic parenchymal cells. These studies, therefore, provide morphological evidence for the existence of fatty acyl-CoA oxidizing system in peroxisomes. An increase of polypeptide PPA-80 on SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of the subcellular fractions of liver of rodents treated with lipid-lowering drugs should serve as a reliable and sensitive indicator of enhanced peroxisomal beta- oxidation system.

N-Demethylation reactions catalyzed by chloroperoxidase

The peroxidase-supported N-demethylations catalyzed by chloroperoxidase, a heme protein isolated from Caldariomyces fumago, have been investigated as models for cytochrome P-450-catalyzed N-dealkylations. The turnover number for the ethyl hydrogen peroxide-supported dealkylation of N,N-dimethylaniline by chloroperoxidase (1476) was much greater than that for cytochrome P-450-catalyzed dealkylations. The dealkylations of N,N-dimethylaniline by chloroperoxidase yielded N-methylaniline and formaldehyde in equimolar amounts with no other products detectable by high pressure liquid chromatography analysis of the reaction mixture. Ethyl hydrogen peroxidase could be replaced by other hydroperoxides, peroxides, or peracids. Chloride ions stimulated the reaction at low pH. The dealkylation reaction exhibited normal Michaelis-Menten saturation kinetics with respect to N,N-dimethylaniline (Km = 0.08 mM) and ethyl hydrogen peroxide (Km = 0.8 mM) at low substrate concentrations. However, substrate inhibition occurred at higher concentrations of N,N-dimethylaniline. The chloroperoxidase-catalyzed demethylations were inhibited by inhibitors of cytochrome P-450 such as azide or n-propyl gallate, but not by metyrapone, SKF-525A, or piperonyl butoxide. Although tiron and DL-epinephrine, trapping agents for the superoxide anion, inhibited the demethylation reactions, superoxide dismutase had no effect. There was no significant inhibition by alpha-phenyl-t-butyl-nitrone or 5,5-dimethyl-pyrroline-N-oxide, which react with free radicals. Diphenylfuran and DL-histidine, which react with singlet oxygen, did not inhibit the reaction. Substitution of D2O for H2O resulted in a marked inhibition with a solvent isotope effect (VH/VD) of 3.6. Chloroperoxidase did not catalyze the demethylation of N,N-dimethylaniline-N-oxide, indicating that the reaction does not proceed via an N-oxide intermediate.

Kinetics of the hydroperoxide-dependent dealkylation reactions catalyzed by rabbit liver microsomal cytochrome P-450

Rabbit liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 catalyzes the dealkylation of a variety of substrates when organic hydroperoxides, peracids, or peroxyesters are substituted for NADPH and O2. The peroxide-supported demethylation of p-nitroanisole by rabbit liver microsomes exhibited normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics with respect to both substrates. The Vmax values for the hydroperoxide-dependent reactions were dependent on the identity of the hydroperoxide and with several of the peroxides they were significantly greater than those obtained with NADPH and O2. The pH profiles for the hydroperoxide-supported demethylations were similar to the profile for the NADPH-supported reaction and exhibited optima from 7.0 to 7.6, depending on the identity of the organic oxidant. The kinetic mechanism of the t-butyl hydroperoxide-supported demethylation of p-nitroanisole was determined. Plots of reciprocal velocity versus the reciprocal concentration of either substrate at several different fixed concentrations of the other substrate converged to common points of intersection on the negative side of the ordinate and above the abscissa, suggesting a sequential mechanism involving the formation of a ternary complex between cytochrome P-450, p-nitroanisole, and t-butyl hydroperoxide followed by one or more reactions and the subsequent release of the products. Potassium cyanide was a competitive inhibitor with respect to t-butyl hydroperoxide and uncompetitive with respect to p-nitroanisole. t-Butyl alcohol, a product of the t-butyl hydroperoxide-supported reaction, was a noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to both substrates. These results, which indicate that the reaction proceeds via an Ordered Bi Bi mechanism in which p-nitroanisole binds to the enzyme prior to the binding of t-butyl hydroperoxide, are discussed in relationship to the peroxidase-type mechanism which has been suggested for the action of cytochrome P-450.

Partial purification and immunoreactivity of an 80 000-molecular-weight polypeptide associated with peroxisome proliferation in rat liver

Hypolipidaemic drugs and industrial plasticizers such as di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, which cause proliferation of hepatic peroxisomes, also cause an increase in an 80000-mol.wt. polypeptide in the liver of rats and mice. This polypeptide has been designated as PPA-80 (PPA, for peroxisome-proliferation-associated; 80 for 80000mol.wt.). The polypeptide PPA-80 was purified to over 90% purity from livers of rats treated with the peroxisome proliferators Wy-14,643, nafenopin, tibric acid and clofibrate by a single-step preparative sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel-electrophoretic procedure. The antibodies raised against the PPA-80 polypeptide isolated from livers of rats treated with Wy-14,643 cross-reacted with polypeptide PPA-80 purified from the livers of rats treated with Wy-14,643, as well as from the livers of rats treated with nafenopin, tibric acid and clofibrate. The anti-(polypeptide PPA-80) antibodies did not cross-react with catalase, a marker enzyme for peroxisomes, or with NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase, which has the same approximate mol.wt., 80000. The intensity of immunoprecipitin bands formed with microsomal, large-particle and postnuclear fractions from livers of animals pretreated with peroxisome proliferators was significantly greater compared with equal amounts of protein from corresponding fractions obtained from control animals, suggesting that these agents all enhance the synthesis of the same 80000-mol.wt. polypeptide. Although the polypeptide PPA-80 was increased in the postnuclear, large-particle and microsomal fractions of livers of rats pretreated with peroxisome proliferators, the relative abundance of this peptide in the peroxisome-rich light-mitochondrial fraction and its lack in highly purified mitochondrial fractions suggest the localization of this polypeptide in peroxisomes and/or microsomal fraction. Additional studies are needed to establish unequivocally the subcellular localization of the polypeptide PPA-80 and to ascertain if this polypeptide is identical with the multi-functional protein displaying enoyl-CoA hydratase and beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase activities that was purified by Osumi & Hashimoto [(1979) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.89, 580-584].

Cobalt-substituted horseradish peroxidase

Horseradish peroxidase can be reconstituted with cobalt porphyrin to give a cobaltic holoenzyme having physicochemical properties quite similar to those of the native ferric protein. The cobaltic protein (Co3+HRP) can be reduced to the cobaltous form (CoHRP), the analogue of ferroperoxidase and the reduced cobalt protein can bind O2 to form an analogue of oxyferroperoxidase (Compound III). Since both the CoHRP and oxy-CoHRP are EPR-visible, the cobalt has been used to probe the nature of the heme crevice in these two protein forms. The occurrence of a three-line 14N superhyperfine pattern in the spectrum of the former unambiguously shows that in the divalent state of the protein the proximal axial ligand is a nitrogenous base. The spectrum of the latter shows a uniquely large Aparallel(59Co) = 23.2 G. Although we confirm the reported failure of the Co3+HRP to catalyze peroxide-dependent oxidations of classical peroxidase substrates (Gjessing, E.C., and Sumner, J.B. (1942) Arch. Biochem. 1, 1), the oxy-CoHRP does undergo oxidation-reduction reactions analogous to those exhibited in the cytochrome P-450 catalytic cycle.