Mechanism of electron transfer in fusion protein cytochrome b5-NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase

CYP3A4 and CYP3A5: the crucial roles in clinical drug metabolism and the significant implications of genetic polymorphisms

CYP3A, a key member of the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) superfamily, is integral to drug metabolism, processing a substantial portion of medications. Their role in drug metabolism is particularly prominent, as CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 metabolize approximately 30-50% of known drugs. The genetic polymorphism of CYP3A4/5 is significant inter-individual variability in enzymatic activity, which can result in different pharmacokinetic profiles in response to the same drug among individuals. These polymorphisms can lead to either increased drug toxicity or reduced therapeutic effects, requiring dosage adjustments based on genetic profiles. Consequently, the study of the enzymatic activity of CYP3A4/5 gene variants is of great importance for the formulation of personalized treatment regimens. This article first reviews the role of CYP3A4/5 in drug metabolism in the human body, including inhibitors and inducers of CYP3A4/5 and drug-drug interactions. In terms of genetic polymorphism, it discusses the detection methods, enzymatic kinetic characteristics, and clinical guidelines for CYP3A5. Finally, the article summarizes the importance of CYP3A4/5 in clinical applications, including personalized therapy, management of drug-drug interactions, and adjustment of drug doses. This review contributes to the understanding of the functions and genetic characteristics of CYP3A4/5, allowing for more effective clinical outcomes through optimized drug therapy.

Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis enzyme involved in vitamin D and 7-dehydrocholesterol metabolism

Problems arising during treatment of tuberculosis are well known, therefore studies of Mycobacterium drug molecular targets are an area of particular importance. Members of the cytochrome P450 family (CYP) may belong to potential candidates for drug targets being involved in metabolism of biologically important molecules in the host organism. CYP124 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTCYP124) catalyzes ω-hydroxylation of methyl-branched lipids. The data obtained in the present study indicate that this enzyme can also oxidize provitamin D3 (7-dehydrocholesterol) and vitamin D3. We found that the final product is different from 1α- and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, so we propose that MTCYP124 is involved in alternative pathway for metabolism of vitamin D3.

[Protein-protein interactions of cytochromes P450 3A4 and 3A5 with their intermediate redox partners cytochromes b5]

Molecular interactions between proteins redox partners (cytochromes Р450 3А4, 3А5 and cytochrome b5) within the monooxygenase system, which is known to be involved in drug biotransformation, were investigated. Human cytochromes Р450 3А4 and 3А5 (CYP3A4 and CYP3A5) form complexes with various cytochromes b5: the microsomal (b5mc) and mitochondrial (b5om) forms of this protein, as well as with 2 "chimeric" proteins, b5(om-mc), b5(mc-om). Kinetic constants and equilibrium dissociation constants were determined by the SPR biosensor. Essential distinction between CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 was only observed upon their interactions with cytochrome b5om. Electroanalytical characteristics of electrodes with immobilized hemoproteins were obtained. The electrochemical analysis of CYP3A4, CYP3A5, b5mc, b5om, b5(om-mc), and b5(mc-om) immobilized on screen printed graphite electrodes modified with membranous matrix revealed that these proteins have very close reduction potentials -0.435  -0.350 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Cytochrome b5mc was shown to be capable of stimulating the electrocatalytic activity of CYP3A4 in the presence of its substrate testosterone.

Analysis of cytochrome b(5) reductase-mediated metabolism in the phytopathogenic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici reveals novel functionalities implicated in virulence

Septoria tritici blotch (STB) caused by the Ascomycete fungus Zymoseptoria tritici is one of the most economically damaging diseases of wheat worldwide. Z. tritici is currently a major target for agricultural fungicides, especially in temperate regions where it is most prevalent. Many fungicides target electron transfer enzymes because these are often important for cell function. Therefore characterisation of genes encoding such enzymes may be important for the development of novel disease intervention strategies. Microsomal cytochrome b5 reductases (CBRs) are an important family of electron transfer proteins which in eukaryotes are involved in the biosynthesis of fatty acids and complex lipids including sphingolipids and sterols. Unlike the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae which possesses only one microsomal CBR, the fully sequenced genome of Z. tritici bears three possible microsomal CBRs. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that ZtCBR1 is the most highly expressed of these genes under all in vitro and in planta conditions tested, therefore ΔZtCBR1 mutant strains were generated through targeted gene disruption. These strains exhibited delayed disease symptoms on wheat leaves and severely limited asexual sporulation. ΔZtCBR1 strains also exhibited aberrant spore morphology and hyphal growth in vitro. These defects coincided with alterations in fatty acid, sphingolipid and sterol biosynthesis observed through GC-MS and HPLC analyses. Data is presented which suggests that Z. tritici may use ZtCBR1 as an additional electron donor for key steps in ergosterol biosynthesis, one of which is targeted by azole fungicides. Our study reports the first functional characterisation of CBR gene family members in a plant pathogenic filamentous fungus. This also represents the first direct observation of CBR functional ablation impacting upon fungal sterol biosynthesis.

[Functional activity of NADH-dependent reductase system in the liver microsomal fraction and Guerin's carcinoma in rats exposed to preliminary irradiation]

The activity of liver and Guerin's carcinoma microsomal NADH-dependent reductase system has been investigated in tumor-bearing rats exposed to preliminary irradiation. Preliminary irradiation of rats (before transplantation of Guerin's carcinoma) resulted in the decrease of NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase activity and contents of cytochrome b5 in the Guerin's carcinoma microsomal fraction in the logarithmic phases of oncogenesis compared with the non-irradiated tumor-bearing rats. The effect of irradiation preceding transplantation of the tumor to rats results in the increase of enzymatic activities of liver microsomal NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase in the latent and logarithmic phases of tumor growth as compared with non-irradiated tumor-bearing rats. At the same time the contents of cytochrome b5 decreases. During longer periods after irradiation the investigated parameters approached to those in the group of non-irradiated tumor-bearing animals.

Protein expression profiling of nuclear membrane protein reveals potential biomarker of human hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

Complex molecular events lead to development and progression of liver cirrhosis to HCC. Differentially expressed nuclear membrane associated proteins are responsible for the functional and structural alteration during the progression from cirrhosis to carcinoma. Although alterations/ post translational modifications in protein expression have been extensively quantified, complementary analysis of nuclear membrane proteome changes have been limited. Deciphering the molecular mechanism that differentiate between normal and disease state may lead to identification of biomarkers for carcinoma.

Results

Many proteins displayed differential expression when nuclear membrane proteome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), fibrotic liver, and HepG2 cell line were assessed using 2-DE and ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS. From the down regulated set in HCC, we have identified for the first time a 15 KDa cytochrome b5A (CYB5A), ATP synthase subunit delta (ATPD) and Hemoglobin subunit beta (HBB) with 11, 5 and 22 peptide matches respectively. Furthermore, nitrosylation studies with S-nitrosocysteine followed by immunoblotting with anti SNO-cysteine demonstrated a novel and biologically relevant post translational modification of thiols of CYB5A in HCC specimens only. Immunofluorescence images demonstrated increased protein S-nitrosylation signals in the tumor cells and fibrotic region of HCC tissues. The two other nuclear membrane proteins which were only found to be nitrosylated in case of HCC were up regulated ATP synthase subunit beta (ATPB) and down regulated HBB. The decrease in expression of CYB5A in HCC suggests their possible role in disease progression. Further insight of the functional association of the identified proteins was obtained through KEGG/ REACTOME pathway analysis databases. String 8.3 interaction network shows strong interactions with proteins at high confidence score, which is helpful in characterization of functional abnormalities that may be a causative factor of liver pathology.

Conclusion

These findings may have broader implications for understanding the mechanism of development of carcinoma. However, large scale studies will be required for further verification of their critical role in development and progression of HCC.

Fusing proteins as an approach to study bioenergetic enzymes and processes

Fusing proteins is an attractive genetic tool used in several biochemical and biophysical investigations. Within a group of redox proteins, certain fusion constructs appear to provide valuable templates for spectroscopy with which specific bioenergetic questions can be addressed. Here we briefly summarize three different cases of fusions reported for bacterial cytochrome bc(1) (prokaryotic equivalent of mitochondrial respiratory complex III), a common component of electron transport chains. These fusions were used to study supramolecular organization of enzymatic complexes in bioenergetic membrane, influence of the accessory subunits on the activity and stability of the complex, and molecular mechanism of operation of the enzyme in the context of its dimeric structure. Besides direct connotation to molecular bioenergetics, these fusions also appeared interesting from the protein design, biogenesis, and assembly points of view. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: 17th European Bioenergetics Conference (EBEC 2012).

Study of the individual cytochrome b5 and cytochrome b5 reductase domains of Ncb5or reveals a unique heme pocket and a possible role of the CS domain

NADH cytochrome b(5) oxidoreductase (Ncb5or) is found in animals and contains three domains similar to cytochrome b(5) (b(5)), CHORD-SGT1 (CS), and cytochrome b(5) reductase (b(5)R). Ncb5or has an important function, as suggested by the diabetes and lipoatrophy phenotypes in Ncb5or null mice. To elucidate the structural and functional properties of human Ncb5or, we generated its individual b(5) and b(5)R domains (Ncb5or-b(5) and Ncb5or-b(5)R, respectively) and compared them with human microsomal b(5) (Cyb5A) and b(5)R (Cyb5R3). A 1.25 Å x-ray crystal structure of Ncb5or-b(5) reveals nearly orthogonal planes of the imidazolyl rings of heme-ligating residues His(89) and His(112), consistent with a highly anisotropic low spin EPR spectrum. Ncb5or is the first member of the cytochrome b(5) family shown to have such a heme environment. Like other b(5) family members, Ncb5or-b(5) has two helix-loop-helix motifs surrounding heme. However, Ncb5or-b(5) differs from Cyb5A with respect to location of the second heme ligand (His(112)) and of polypeptide conformation in its vicinity. Electron transfer from Ncb5or-b(5)R to Ncb5or-b(5) is much less efficient than from Cyb5R3 to Cyb5A, possibly as a consequence of weaker electrostatic interactions. The CS linkage probably obviates the need for strong interactions between b(5) and b(5)R domains in Ncb5or. Studies with a construct combining the Ncb5or CS and b(5)R domains suggest that the CS domain facilitates docking of the b(5) and b(5)R domains. Trp(114) is an invariant surface residue in all known Ncb5or orthologs but appears not to contribute to electron transfer from the b(5)R domain to the b(5) domain.

Electron transfer properties and catalytic competence of cytochrome b5 in the fusion protein Hmwb5-EGFP in reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P450 3A4

In the present paper we describe studies on molecular mechanisms of protein-protein interactions between cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) and cytochrome b(5), the latter being incorporated into the artificial recombinant protein Hmwb(5)-EGFP containing full-length cytochrome b(5) (functional module) and a mutant form of the green fluorescent protein EGFP (signal module) fused into a single polypeptide chain. It is shown that cytochrome b(5) within the fusion protein Hmwb(5)-EGFP can be reduced by NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase in the presence of NADPH, the rate of reduction being dependent on solution ionic strength, indicating that the signal module does not prevent the interaction of the flavo- and hemeproteins. Interaction of cytochrome P450 3A4 and Hmwb(5)-EGFP was estimated based on spin equilibrium shift of cytochrome P450 3A4 to high-spin state in the presence of Hmwb(5)-EGFP, as well as based on steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of the EGFP component of the fusion protein in the presence of CYP3A4. The engineering of chimeric protein Hmwb(5)-EGFP gives an independent method to determine dissociation constant for the complex of cytochrome P450 and cytochrome b(5) that is less sensitive to environmental factors compared to spectrophotometric titration used before. Reconstitution of catalytic activity of cytochrome P450 3A4 in the reaction of testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation in the presence of Hmwb(5)-EGFP indicates that cytochrome b(5) in the fusion protein is able to stimulate the hydroxylation reaction. Using other fusion proteins containing either cytochrome b(5) or its hydrophilic domain to reconstitute catalytic activity of cytochrome P450 3A4 showed that the hydrophobic domain of cytochrome b(5) participates not only in hemeprotein interaction, but also in electron transfer from cytochrome b(5) to cytochrome P450.