NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase of yeast microsomes

Spectral properties of a novel cytochrome P-450 of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant SG1. A cytochrome P-450 species having a nitrogenous ligand trans to thiolate

An altered cytochrome P-450 (SG1 P-450) was partially purified from Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant SG1 which is defective in lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylation. Oxidized SG1 P-450 showed a Soret peak at 422 nm and the alpha peak was lower than the beta peak. This spectrum was considerably different from those of known low-spin P-450s, indicating a unique ligand structure of SG1 P-450. The absorption spectrum of ferric SG1 P-450 was superimposable on that of the imidazole complex of ferric P-450, suggesting the presence of a nitrogenous ligand such as histidine of the apoprotein at the 6th coordination position. SG1 P-450 was immunochemically indistinguishable from cytochrome P-450 of S. cerevisiae catalyzing lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylation (P-45014DM) but had no lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase activity.

Immunochemical evidence for participation of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase in microsomal fatty acyl-CoA desaturation of Tetrahymena cells lacking in cytochrome P-450

Rabbit antibody was prepared against NADPH-cytochrome c reductase of Tetrahymena microsomes. When examined by the Ouchterlony double diffusion test, anti-NADPH-cytochrome c reductase immunoglobulin formed a single precipitation line with Tetrahymena reductase but not rat liver one. The antibody inhibited the NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity of Tetrahymena microsomes, but it did not affect either NADH-ferricyanide or NADH-cytochrome c reductase activity of Tetrahymena microsomes. The NADPH-dependent desaturation of stearoyl-CoA in Tetrahymena microsomes was inhibited by anti-reductase immunoglobuline, while the NADH-dependent desaturation was affected by neither anti-reductase nor control immunoglobuline. It was suggested that the temperature associated-alteration of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activities would be important for regulation of microsomal NADPH-dependent desaturase activities in Tetrahymena which contains no cytochrome P-450.

Buthiobate: a potent inhibitor for yeast cytochrome P-450 catalyzing 14 alpha-demethylation of lanosterol

Buthiobate (S-n-butyl S'-p-tert-butylbenzyl N-3-pyridyldithiocarbon-imidate), a fungicide, inhibited 14 alpha-demethylation of lanosterol catalyzed by a reconstituted enzyme system consisting of cytochrome P-450 (P-450(14)-DM) and NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase both purified from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Concentration of buthiobate necessary for the 50% inhibition was 0.3 microM and this value was markedly lower than those of metyrapone and SKF-525A. Buthiobate bound stoichiometrically to P-450(14)-DM and induced Type II spectral change of the cytochrome. Buthiobate inhibited lanosterol-dependent enzymatic reduction of the cytochrome. These facts indicate that buthiobate binds to P-450(14)-DM with high affinity and acts as a potent inhibitor on the cytochrome.

Purification and characterization of intact cytochrome b5 from yeast microsomes

A method for purification of detergent-solubilized cytochrome b5 to gel electrophoretic homogeneity from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) microsomes is described. The purified preparation shows the same absorption spectra as the trypsin-solubilized cytochrome (Y. Yoshida, H. Kumaoka, and R. Sato J. Biochem. 75, 1211-1219 (1974)) in the visible and Soret regions. The detergent-solubilized cytochrome is an amphipathic protein having a monomeric molecular weight of about 18,000 and exists as a hexa- or heptameric aggregate (Mr 122,000) in aqueous media. In the presence of low concentrations of Triton X-100, it interacts effectively with the intact form of NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase purified either from yeast microsomes or from rabbit liver microsomes. Upon trypsin digestion, it is converted to a heme-containing, hydrophilic fragment (Mr 13,000) which retains the spectral characteristics of the original cytochrome, does not form aggregates, and interacts with the reductase only poorly. It is concluded that the preparation purified in this study represents the intact form of yeast cytochrome b5 consisting of a hydrophilic, heme-containing moiety (Mr 13,000) and a hydrophobic, membrane-binding tail (Mr 5000).

Studies on the microsomal mixed-function oxidase system: mechanism of action of hepatic NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase

The mechanism of hepatic NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase has been investigated by using a stopped-flow technique. The reduction of the oxidized native enzyme (FAD-FMN) by NADPH proceeds by both one-electron equivalent and two-electron eqiuvalent mechanisms. The air-stable semiquinone form (FAD-FMNH.) of the native enzyme, which is characterized by an absorption shoulder at 635 nm, is also rapidly reduced to another semiquinone form (FADH-FMNH2) by NADPH with the disappearance of the shoulder at 635 nm, but the absorbance change at 585 nm is relatively constant. The FAD moiety in the FMN-depleted enzyme is rapidly reduced by NADPH, and reduced FAD is oxidized in successive one-electron steps by O2 or potassium ferricyanide. These results indicate the possibility of intra-molecular one-electron transfer between FAD and FMN. The rate of cytochrome P-450 reduction decreases in the presence of FMN-depleted enzyme but is nearly restored to the value of the original enzyme with FMN-reconstituted enzyme. These data suggest that FAD is the low-potential flavin, which serves as an electron acceptor from NADPH. On the other hand, FMN, which is the high-potential flavin, appears to participate as an electron carrier in the process of electron transfer from NADPH to cytochrome P-450 during the mixed-function catalytic cycle.

Involvement of cytochrome b5 and a cyanide-sensitive monooxygenase in the 4-demethylation of 4,4-dimethylzymosterol by yeast microsomes

According to Ohba et al. (Ohba, M., Sato, R., Yoshida, Y., Nishino, T. and Katsuki, H. (1978) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 85, 21-27), yeast microsomes catalyze the removal of three methyl groups attached to the C-4 and C-14 positions of [1,7,15,22,26,30-14C]lanosterol (4,4,14 alpha-trimethyl-5 alpha-cholesta-8,24-dien-3 beta-ol) in the presence of NADPH, NAD+ and molecular oxygen, concomitant with the liberation of 14CO2 derived from C-30 (one of the two methyl groups at the C-4 position). In this process the methyl group at the C-14 position is first removed in a cyanide-insensitive reaction and then the two methyl groups at the C-4 position are removed by a cyanide-sensitive enzyme system. In this study it was found that the 14CO2 formation from the 14C-labeled lanosterol was inhibited by antibodies to yeast cytochrome b5 and by palmitoyl-CoA, a substrate of the cytochrome b5-containing fatty acyl-CoA desaturase system of yeast microsomes. However, neither the antibodies nor palmitoyl-CoA inhibited the conversion of lanosterol to 4,4-dimethyl zymosterol (4,4-dimethyl-5 alpha-cholesta-8,24-dien-3 beta-ol). It is concluded that cytochrome b5 and a cyanide-sensitive enzyme are involved in the 4-demethylation of 4,4-dimethylzymosterol, but not the 14 alpha-demethylation of lanosterol, by yeast microsomes. It is suggested that a cyanide-sensitive enzyme acts as the terminal 4-demethylase and cytochrome b5 transfers reducing equivalents from NADPH to the terminal enzyme, as in the case of fatty acyl-CoA desaturation. The cyanide sensitivity of the 4-demethylation was, however, much greater than that of the desaturation.