The role of components of the endoplasmic reticulum in the biosynthesis of cytochrome P-450

Induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes by phenobarbitone: structural and biochemical aspects

Two aspects of the induction of microsomal monooxygenases by phenobarbitone have been investigated. First, structural associations between mitochondria and single cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum (mitochondria--RER complexes) may operate as functional units in the biosynthesis of cytochrome P-450. This was deduced from (i) studies on the subcellular distribution of the phenobarbitone-induced incorporation of leucine into microsomal proteins including apocytochromes P-450 and (ii) the incorporation of labelled delta-aminolaevulinic acid into the haem prosthetic group of cytochrome P-450. Secondly, in hepatocytes from chick embryo in primary monolayer culture, induction of cytochrome P-450-haemoproteins was markedly influenced by changes in the proliferative activity of hepatocytes. Inducibility of cytochrome P-450 by phenobarbitone and by beta-naphthoflavone was decreased in cultures with 'spontaneous' or experimentally increased proliferative activity of hepatocytes. Treatment with inhibitors of DNA synthesis increased the induction response.

Effects of metyrapone and norharmane on microsomal mono-oxygenase and epoxide hydrolase activities

This study was undertaken to examine the possibility that metyrapone and norharmane stimulate epoxide hydrolase and inhibit mono-oxygenase activities by binding to a cytochrome P-450 component of a stable complex containing the two enzymes. The concentration of metyrapone and norharmane which inhibited mono-oxygenase activities of hepatic microsomes from untreated and diethylnitrosamine treated rats was lower than that required to stimulate epoxide hydrolase of the same microsomes. The ability of metyrapone and norharmane to stimulate epoxide hydrolase in these microsomes was not inhibited by the addition of carbon monoxide and reductant. Epoxide hydrolase activity was inhibited by detergents but the enzyme was still stimulated by metyrapone and norharmane under conditions of total membrane disaggregation. When microsomes were solubilized, epoxide hydrolase could be quantitatively recovered by immunoprecipitation. The immunoprecipitate contained no detectable cytochrome P-450 but was stimulated by metyrapone and norharmane. A purified epoxide hydrolase was stimulated by metyrapone but not by norharmane. The response of the enzyme to norharmane was not restored by the inclusion of cytochrome P-448. These findings suggest that metyrapone and norharmane act at separate sites on both cytochrome P-450 and epoxide hydrolase.

The induction of microsomal electron transport enzymes

Liver endoplasmic reticulum contains as NADPH-dependent electron transport complex where the family of hemeproteins, termed cytochrome P-450, serve as catalysts for the oxidation of a variety of different organic chemicals. The content and inventory of the types of cytochrome P-450 is readily modified following in vivo treatment of animals with 'inducing agents' such as barbiturates, steroids and polycyclic hydrocarbons. Recent studies have applied the methods of molecular biology to evaluate changes in the transcription and translation of genomic information occurring concomitant with the initiation of synthesis of various types of cytochrome P-450. The ability to isolate unique cytochrome P-450 proteins and to prepare specific antibodies now permits the study of in vitro translation of mRNA and the preparation of specific cDNAs. The present review summarizes the historic background leading to current concepts of cytochrome P-450 induction and describes recent advances in our knowledge of the regulation of cytochrome P-450 synthesis in the liver.

Measurement of the metabolism of cytochrome P-450 in cultured hepatocytes by a quantitative and specific immunochemical method

We have defined conditions that permit quantitative and specific measurement of the metabolism of the major phenobarbital-inducible form of cytochrome P-450 protein in primary non-proliferating monolayer cultures of adult rat hepatocytes. Isolated antibodies specifically directed against phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 are used to immunoprecipitate the cytochrome from lysates of cultured hepatocytes pulse-labelled with [(3)H]leucine. Phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 protein is then isolated from the immunoprecipitate by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gradient slab gels. Specificity of the assay for phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 was established by competition experiments involving other forms of purified cytochrome P-450 as well as by testing antibodies directed against these other forms of the cytochrome. Using purified phenobarbital cytochrome P-450, radiolabelled in both its haem and apoprotein portions, as an internal standard, we demonstrated that, with this immunoassay, recovery of cytochrome P-450 from microsomal samples is nearly complete. Basal rates of synthesis of phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 representing as little as 0.02-0.05% of total cellular protein synthesis were reliably and reproducibly detected in hepatocyte culture maintained in serum-free medium for 72h. Moreover, inclusion of phenobarbital in the culture medium for 96h stimulated not only synthesis de novo of phenobarbital cytochrome P-450 protein, but also accumulation of spectrally and catalytically active cytochrome P-450. Advantages of this immunoassay are that metabolism (synthesis or degradation) of the haem or protein of this important form of the cytochrome can be measured conveniently in the small samples available from cultured cells without the necessity of preparing subcellular fractions.

Newly biosynthesized cytochrome P-450 associated with the golgi apparatus from livers of rats induced with phenobarbital

1. Cytochrome P-450 has been detected in preparations of golgi apparatus from the livers of phenobarbital-induced rats. 2. Newly biosynthesized cytochrome P-450 is also present in preparations of golgi apparatus. By using three different techniques to fractionate the golgi into vesicle contents and membrane components it was found that newly biosynthesized cytochrome P-450 is associated solely with the membrane fraction. 3. By investigating the susceptibility of cytochrome P-450, present in the golgi apparatus, to the action of trypsin it was found that the majority was oriented on the cytosolic face of the membrane.

Asymmetric distribution of cytochrome P-450 and NADPH--cytochrome P-450 (cytochrome c) reductase in vesicles from smooth endoplasmic reticulum of rat liver

1. The topography of cytochrome P-450 in vesicles from smooth endoplasmic reticulum of rat liver has been examined. Approx. 50% of the cytochrome is directly accessible to the action of trypsin in intact vesicles whereas the remainder is inaccessible and partitioned between luminal-facing or phospholipid-embedded loci. Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis reveals three major species of the cytochrome. Of these, the variant with a mol.wt. of 52000 is induced by phenobarbitone and this species is susceptible to trypsin. 2. After trypsin treatment of smooth membrane, some NADPH-cytochrome P-450 (cytochrome c) reductase activity remains and this remaining activity is enhanced by treatment with 0.05% deoxycholate, which renders the membranes permeable to macromolecules. In non-trypsin-treated control membranes the reductase activity is increased to a similar extent. These observations suggest an asymmetric distribution of NADPH-cytochrome P-450 (cytochrome c) reductase in the membrane. 3. As compared with dithionite, NADPH reduces only 44% of the cytochrome P-450 present in intact membranes. After tryptic digestion, none of the remaining cytochrome P-450 is reducible by NADPH. 4. In the presence of both a superoxide-generating system (xanthine plus xanthine oxidase) and NADPH, all the cytochrome P-450 in intact membrane (as judged by dithionite reducibility) is reduced. The cytochrome P-450 remaining after trypsin treatment of smooth vesicles cannot be reduced by this method. 5. The superoxide-dependent reduction of cytochrome P-450 is prevented by treatment of the membranes with mersalyl, which inhibits NADPH-cytochrome P-450 (cytochrome c) reductase. Thus the effect of superoxide may involve NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase and cytosolically orientated membrane factor(s).

Synthesis and insertion of cytochrome P-450 into endoplasmic reticulum membranes

Treatment of rats with phenobarbital leads to a substantial increase in levels of translatable liver cytochrome P-450 mRNA. This mRNA is primarily associated with ribosomes bound to endoplasmic reticulum membranes which in an in vitro system synthesized approximately 10 times more cytochrome P-450 than did free polysomes from the same animals. Cytochrome P-450 synthesized by rough microsomes in vitro appears to be directly inserted into the membranes because it was not released by a treatment with low detergent concentrations that released albumin and other microsomal content proteins. The amino-terminal amino acid sequence of cytochrome P-450 synthesized in an mRNA-dependent system resembles in hydrophobicity the signal segment of presecretory proteins and therefore may serve to insert the polypeptide into the membrane during synthesis. In contrast to the situation with secretory proteins and several other membrane proteins, however, the putative insertion signal of cytochrome P-450 is not removed by a membrane-associated peptidase and remains in the mature polypeptide.