Temperature derivative spectroscopy to monitor the autoxidation decay of cytochromes P450

Optical annealing of peroxo-ferric intermediates in CYP17A1 and product formation

Human cytochrome P450 CYP17A1 catalyzes the hydroxylation of pregnenolone and progesterone at the C17 position, with subsequent C17-C20 bond scission, to form dehydroepiandrosterone and androstenedione respectively. The first hydroxylation reaction is faster in H2O than in D2O, while the second carbon‑carbon bond scission event demonstrates an inverse solvent isotope effect, which is more pronounced for 17-hydroxy pregnenolone. In order to better understand the cause of this difference, we compared the optical absorption spectra of oxygenated CYP17A1 with the four substrates (pregnenolone, progesterone, 17-hydroxy pregnenolone and 17-hydroxy progesterone) in both H2O and D2O. We also studied the temperature-dependent decay of the peroxo-ferric and hydroperoxo-ferric intermediates generated by cryoradiolysis of the corresponding oxygenated heme proteins at 77 K. For both pregnenolone and 17-hydroxypregnenolone, annealing of the peroxo-intermediates was observed at lower temperatures in H2O than in D2O. In contrast, no solvent isotope effect was detected when progesterone or 17-hydroxyprogesterone were used as substrates. These differences are attributed to their different positioning in the P450 active site with respect to the heme bound peroxo (Fe-OO-) moiety, which is in agreement with earlier structural and spectroscopic investigations. Analysis of the samples run in both H2O and in D2O, where 17-hydroxyprogesterone is the substrate, demonstrated significant (∼25%) yield of androstenedione product relative to the oxygenated starting material.

Nanodiscs: A toolkit for membrane protein science

Membrane proteins are involved in numerous vital biological processes, including transport, signal transduction and the enzymes in a variety of metabolic pathways. Integral membrane proteins account for up to 30% of the human proteome and they make up more than half of all currently marketed therapeutic targets. Unfortunately, membrane proteins are inherently recalcitrant to study using the normal toolkit available to scientists, and one is most often left with the challenge of finding inhibitors, activators and specific antibodies using a denatured or detergent solubilized aggregate. The Nanodisc platform circumvents these challenges by providing a self-assembled system that renders typically insoluble, yet biologically and pharmacologically significant, targets such as receptors, transporters, enzymes, and viral antigens soluble in aqueous media in a native-like bilayer environment that maintain a target's functional activity. By providing a bilayer surface of defined composition and structure, Nanodiscs have found great utility in the study of cellular signaling complexes that assemble on a membrane surface. Nanodiscs provide a nanometer scale vehicle for the in vivo delivery of amphipathic drugs, therapeutic lipids, tethered nucleic acids, imaging agents and active protein complexes. This means for generating nanoscale lipid bilayers has spawned the successful use of numerous other polymer and peptide amphipathic systems. This review, in celebration of the Anfinsen Award, summarizes some recent results and provides an inroad into the current and historical literature.

Human Cytochrome CYP17A1: The Structural Basis for Compromised Lyase Activity with 17-Hydroxyprogesterone

The multifunctional enzyme, cytochrome P450 (CYP17A1), plays a crucial role in the production of androgens, catalyzing two key reactions on pregnenolone (PREG) and progesterone (PROG), the first being a 17-hydroxylation to generate 17-OH PREG and 17-OH PROG, with roughly equal efficiencies. The second is a C-C bond scission or "lyase" reaction in which the C17-C20 bond is cleaved, leading to the eventual production of powerful androgens, whose involvement in the proliferation of prostate cancer has generated intense interest in developing inhibitors of CYP17A1. For humans, the significance of the C-C bond cleavage of 17-OH PROG is lessened, because it is about 50 times less efficient than for 17-OH PREG in terms of k_cat/K_m. Recognizing the need to clarify relevant reaction mechanisms involved with such transformations, we first report studies of solvent isotope effects, results of which are consistent with a Compound I mediated PROG hydroxylase activity, yet exclude this intermediate as a participant in the formation of androstenedione (AD) via the lyase reaction. This finding is also supported by a combination of cryoreduction and resonance Raman spectroscopy that traps and structurally characterizes the key hemiketal reaction intermediates. Adding to a previous study of PREG and 17-OH PREG metabolism, the current work provides definitive evidence for a more facile protonation of the initially formed ferric peroxo-intermediate for 17-OH PROG-bound CYP17A1, compared to the complex with 17-OH PREG. Importantly, Raman characterization also reveals an H-bonding interaction with the terminal oxygen of the peroxo fragment, rather than with the proximal oxygen, as is present for 17-OH PREG. These factors would favor a diminished lyase activity of the sample with 17-OH PROG relative to the complex with 17-OH PREG, thereby providing a convincing structural explanation for the dramatic differences in activity for these lyase substrates in humans.

Spectroscopic studies of the cytochrome P450 reaction mechanisms

The cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are thiolate heme proteins that can, often under physiological conditions, catalyze many distinct oxidative transformations on a wide variety of molecules, including relatively simple alkanes or fatty acids, as well as more complex compounds such as steroids and exogenous pollutants. They perform such impressive chemistry utilizing a sophisticated catalytic cycle that involves a series of consecutive chemical transformations of heme prosthetic group. Each of these steps provides a unique spectral signature that reflects changes in oxidation or spin states, deformation of the porphyrin ring or alteration of dioxygen moieties. For a long time, the focus of cytochrome P450 research was to understand the underlying reaction mechanism of each enzymatic step, with the biggest challenge being identification and characterization of the powerful oxidizing intermediates. Spectroscopic methods, such as electronic absorption (UV-Vis), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR), Mössbauer, X-ray absorption (XAS), and resonance Raman (rR), have been useful tools in providing multifaceted and detailed mechanistic insights into the biophysics and biochemistry of these fascinating enzymes. The combination of spectroscopic techniques with novel approaches, such as cryoreduction and Nanodisc technology, allowed for generation, trapping and characterizing long sought transient intermediates, a task that has been difficult to achieve using other methods. Results obtained from the UV-Vis, rR and EPR spectroscopies are the main focus of this review, while the remaining spectroscopic techniques are briefly summarized. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cytochrome P450 biodiversity and biotechnology, edited by Erika Plettner, Gianfranco Gilardi, Luet Wong, Vlada Urlacher, Jared Goldstone.

Nanodiscs in Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics

Membrane proteins play a most important part in metabolism, signaling, cell motility, transport, development, and many other biochemical and biophysical processes which constitute fundamentals of life on the molecular level. Detailed understanding of these processes is necessary for the progress of life sciences and biomedical applications. Nanodiscs provide a new and powerful tool for a broad spectrum of biochemical and biophysical studies of membrane proteins and are commonly acknowledged as an optimal membrane mimetic system that provides control over size, composition, and specific functional modifications on the nanometer scale. In this review we attempted to combine a comprehensive list of various applications of nanodisc technology with systematic analysis of the most attractive features of this system and advantages provided by nanodiscs for structural and mechanistic studies of membrane proteins.

Unveiling the crucial intermediates in androgen production

Ablation of androgen production through surgery is one strategy against prostate cancer, with the current focus placed on pharmaceutical intervention to restrict androgen synthesis selectively, an endeavor that could benefit from the enhanced understanding of enzymatic mechanisms that derives from characterization of key reaction intermediates. The multifunctional cytochrome P450 17A1 (CYP17A1) first catalyzes the typical hydroxylation of its primary substrate, pregnenolone (PREG) and then also orchestrates a remarkable C17-C20 bond cleavage (lyase) reaction, converting the 17-hydroxypregnenolone initial product to dehydroepiandrosterone, a process representing the first committed step in the biosynthesis of androgens. Now, we report the capture and structural characterization of intermediates produced during this lyase step: an initial peroxo-anion intermediate, poised for nucleophilic attack on the C20 position by a substrate-associated H-bond, and the crucial ferric peroxo-hemiacetal intermediate that precedes carbon-carbon (C-C) bond cleavage. These studies provide a rare glimpse at the actual structural determinants of a chemical transformation that carries profound physiological consequences.

Human aromatase: perspectives in biochemistry and biotechnology

Aromatase (CYP19) is involved in steroidogenesis, catalyzing the conversion of androgens into estrogens through a unique reaction that causes the aromatization of the A ring of the steroid. The enzyme is widely distributed and well conserved among species as it plays a crucial role in physiological processes such as control of reproduction and neuroprotection. It has also been a subject of intense research both at the biotechnological level in drug development due to its involvement in estrogen-dependent tumors and at a fundamental biochemical level because there are numerous questions regarding its reaction mechanism. This review will report the great progress made in this area.

Nanodiscs in the studies of membrane-bound cytochrome P450 enzymes

Cytochromes P450 from eukaryotes and their native redox partners cytochrome P450 reductases both belong to the class of monotopic membrane proteins containing one transmembrane anchor. Incorporation into the lipid bilayer significantly affects their equilibrium and kinetic properties and plays an important role in their interactions. We describe here the detailed protocols developed in our group for the functional self-assembly of mammalian cytochromes P450 and cytochrome P450 reductases into Nanodiscs with controlled lipid composition. The resulting preparations are fully functional, homogeneous in size, composition and oligomerization state of the heme enzyme, and show an improved stability with respect to P420 formation. We provide a brief overview of applications of Nanodisc technology to the biophysical and biochemical mechanistic studies of cytochromes P450 involved in steroidogenesis, and of the most abundant xenobiotic-metabolizing human cytochrome P450 CYP3A4.