细胞色素P450scc在人早期胎盘中的表达(简报)

人妊娠期间,胎盘合成大量的类固醇激素,与妊娠的启动、维持、分娩以及胎儿的发育均存在密切的关系。阐明胎盘类固醇激素特别是孕酮合成与分泌的调节机制对于寻找理想的生育调控技术和生殖保健方法具有重要的意义。因此,胎盘类固醇激素合成与分泌的调节向来是生殖生物学与妇产科学领域所关注的焦点问题之一,并为此开展了大量的研究,但迄今仍不清楚,其主要原因之一是     

人细胞色素P450在大肠杆菌中的功能表达

研究人细胞色素P450（P450,CYP）在大肠杆菌中的功能表达对新药研发,临床药物治疗和药物早期ADME/T性质研究均有重要意义。异源表达人P450使用最多的宿主是大肠杆菌E.coli,然而要获得足量的有催化活性的P450仍是一个难题。结合作者近年研究,对异源表达的研究意义,P450在E.coli中功能表达的策略,高效表达的影响因素和共表达等方面做一评述,指出今后的研究应用方向。     

真菌细胞色素P450在大肠杆菌中的表达

【背景】真菌细胞色素P450蛋白在大肠杆菌中表达水平低甚至不表达,近期研究发现通过对该类蛋白氨基端(N端)氨基酸序列的修饰可优化其表达水平。【目的】在大肠杆菌系统中表达预测功能为P450酶的焦曲霉094102菌株的Au8002蛋白,为真菌P450蛋白在大肠杆菌表达系统中的N端氨基酸序列修饰策略提供有效依据。【方法】对野生型P450蛋白Au8002的氨基酸序列进行分析,对其N端序列进行了3种序列修饰,并在诱导蛋白表达时添加P450生物合成前体5-氨基乙酰丙酸(5-ALA),研究N端氨基酸序列修饰策略及前体添加对真菌P450在大肠杆菌中蛋白表达的影响。【结果】SDS-PAGE和Westernblot检测结果显示,对目的蛋白进行的3种氨基酸序列修饰均使Au8002蛋白获得了表达,前体5-ALA的添加提高了目的蛋白表达量。其中对目的蛋白进行N端全长截短时可部分增加其可溶性,同时也验证了其特征性的CO结合能力。【结论】对预测为P450酶的菌株094102蛋白Au8002氨基端(N端)氨基酸序列的修饰有效解决了其在大肠杆菌内不表达的难题,实现了其可溶性表达;另一方面P450生物合成前体5-ALA的添加也能有效提高该类蛋白的表达水平,上述策略对改善其它该类蛋白在大肠杆菌内的表达水平具有借鉴意义。     

细胞色素P450的多样性

细胞色素Ｐ４５０的多样性＊邱星辉冷欣夫（中国科学院动物研究所,北京１０００８０）关键词细胞色素Ｐ４５０多样性细胞色素Ｐ４５０是一类以还原态与ＣＯ结合后在波长４５０ｎｍ处有吸收峰的含血红素的单链蛋白质［１～３］。它于１９５８年被发现以来,就引起了人们的...     

细胞色素P450与肿瘤

本文综棕了细胞色素Ｐ４５０同工酶与致癌物代谢、与抗癌药的相互作用以及化的关系,并对调控Ｐ４５０同工酶以防治肿瘤的策略进行了论述。由于Ｐ４５０同工酶具有多态性、工物特异性及可诱导性的特点,在调控Ｐ４５０同工酶以防治肿瘤的问题上,针对不同人群、不同疾病状况及不同用药方案可能需采取抑制或诱导的不同策略。     

昆虫细胞色素P450研究:P450基因

细胞色素P450广泛存在于生物界,它因参与许多外来物质和内源性物质的代谢而具有十分重要的作用［1－5］细胞色素P450的研究大约有50多年的历史[3]。60年代的工作主要是对这一血红素蛋白的生物化学和生物物理学特征的了解以及膜结合P450酶系的酶学功能[3]。70年代的研究集中在细胞色素P450酶系的分离纯化及其活性的重组。纯化P450的成功证明了许多P450在物理学和酶学特征方面的不同,也为制备抗体及利用抗体来确定某种P450的存在与数量以及抑制特定P450的酶活性提供了手段,使进一步阐明P450的反应机制成为可能。80年代分子生物学技术的…     

昆虫细胞色素P450的研究:P450基因的进化

80年代分子生物学方法被用于分离和鉴定特定P450的CDNA或基因组克隆［‘］,至今已知的P450基因包括70个基因家族、127个亚家族的40O多个,基因序列的数量还在迅速增加I’］。不同P450间的进化关系在一些综述中都有涉及［”’,‘］,本文介绍这一主题的一些主要观点,重点放在P450功能的进化及其机制。亚细胞色素P450的基本特征及其分类与命名所有细胞色素P450具有一非共价结合的血红素和环绕高度保守的半跳氨酸的一段26氨基残基的保守序列,这一半跳氨酸提供血红素铁的第5个配体（ligand）。当血红素铁接受电子被还原后再与CO结合产…     

细胞色素P450在生物除污中的应用

人类生存环境中的有毒废物日益增多 ,特别是多环芳烃及多卤代有机物 ,它们的生物利用率低且化学上惰性 ,成为环境污染治理的一大难题 ,迫切需要开发一种有效的途径以解毒或降解这些废物。Ｐ45 0酶系可以催化许多结构不同的物质羟基化、环氧化、脱烷基或脱卤化氢等 ,使其化学性质发生改变。人类活动产生的 2 0 0 0 0 0种环境化合物中大多数是Ｐ45 0的可能底物 ,这使Ｐ45 0在环境的生物除污 (ｂｉｏｒｅｍｅｄｉａｔｉｏｎ)应用中具有广阔前景。1 .天然Ｐ45 0的利用微生物Ｐ45 0无处不在 ,它们具有强的还原和氧化能力 ,对于环境的生物净化十分…     

棉铃虫细胞色素P450的分子生物学

棉铃虫 [Ｈｅｌｉｃｏｖｅｒｐａａｒｍｉｇｅｒａ(ｚｅａ) ]属鳞翅目夜蛾科 ,是一种寄主范围广、危害严重的世界性农业害虫。由于长期以来主要依靠化学防治 ,棉铃虫已对拟除虫菊酯、有机磷、氨基甲酸酯等多种类型的农药产生不同程度的抗性 ,给工农业生产带来巨大损失。对棉铃虫抗性机制研究发现 ,细胞色素Ｐ45 0酶系 (以下简称Ｐ45 0酶系 )代谢活性的增强是一个很重要的原因。作为Ｐ45 0酶系的重要组分 ,细胞色素Ｐ45 0 (简称Ｐ45 0 )是一类由基因超家族编码的同工酶。由于难以从昆虫体内分离出单一型Ｐ45 0 ,用传统的酶学和代谢方法很难对…     

Oxidized adrenodoxin acts as a competitive inhibitor of cytochrome P450scc in mitochondria from the human placenta.

The conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone by cytochrome P450scc is the rate-determining step in placental progesterone synthesis. The limiting component for placental cytochrome P450scc activity is the concentration of adrenodoxin reductase in the mitochondria, where it permits cytochrome P450scc to work at only 16% of maximum velocity. Adrenodoxin reductase serves to reduce adrenodoxin as part of the electron transfer from NADPH to cytochrome P450scc. We therefore measured the proportion of adrenodoxin in the reduced form in intact mitochondria from the human placenta during active pregnenolone synthesis, using EPR. We found that the adrenodoxin pool was only 30% reduced, indicating that the adrenodoxin reductase concentration was insufficient to maintain the adrenodoxin in the fully reduced state. As both oxidized and reduced adrenodoxin can bind to cytochrome P450scc we tested the ability of oxidized adrenodoxin to act as a competitive inhibitor of pregnenolone synthesis. This was done in a fully reconstituted system comprising 0.3% Tween 20 and purified proteins, and in a partially reconstituted system comprising submitochondrial particles, purified adrenodoxin and adrenodoxin reductase. We found that oxidized adrenodoxin is an effective competitive inhibitor of placental cytochrome P450scc with a Ki value half that of the Km for reduced adrenodoxin. We conclude that the limiting concentration of adrenodoxin reductase present in placental mitochondria has a two-fold effect on cytochrome P450scc activity. It limits the amount of reduced adrenodoxin that is available to donate electrons to cytochrome P450scc and the oxidized adrenodoxin that remains, competitively inhibits the cytochrome.     

Cholesterol amperometric biosensor based on cytochrome P450scc

A screen-printed enzyme electrode based on flavocytochrome P450scc (RfP450scc) for amperometric determination of cholesterol has been developed. A one-step method for RfP450scc immobilization in the presence of glutaraldehyde or by entrapment of enzyme within a hydrogel of agarose is discussed. The sensitivity of the biosensor based on immobilization procedures of flavocytochrome P450scc by glutaric aldehyde is 13.8 nA microM(-1) and the detection limit is 300 microM with a coefficient of linearity 0.98 for cholesterol in the presence of sodium cholate as detergent. The detection limits and the sensitivity of the agarose-based electrode are 155 microM and 6.9 nA microM(-1) with a linearity coefficient of 0.99. For both types of electrodes, the amperometric response to cholesterol in the presence of detergent was rather quick (1.5-2 min).     

The concentration of adrenodoxin reductase limits cytochrome p450scc activity in the human placenta.

We have previously reported that cytochrome P450scc activity in the human placenta is limited by the supply of electrons to the P450scc [Tuckey, R. C., Woods, S. T. & Tajbakhsh, M. (1997) Eur. J. Biochem. 244, 835-839]. The aim of the present study was to determine whether it is adrenodoxin reductase, adrenodoxin or both which limits cytochrome P450scc activity and hence progesterone synthesis in the placenta. We found that the concentrations of adrenodoxin reductase and adrenodoxin in placental mitochondria were both considerably lower than the concentrations of these proteins in the bovine adrenal cortex. When P450scc activity assays were carried out at high mitochondrial protein concentrations, we found that the addition of exogenous adrenodoxin reductase to sonicated mitochondria rescued pregnenolone synthesis to a level above that for intact mitochondria, showing that adrenodoxin is near-saturating in vivo. In contrast, pregnenolone synthesis by sonicated mitochondria was almost zero even after the addition of human adrenodoxin. This shows that the concentration of endogenous adrenodoxin reductase was insufficient to support appreciable rates of pregnenolone synthesis, even when concentrated mitochondrial samples were used. Comparative studies with human and bovine adrenodoxin reductase have revealed that a twofold higher concentration of human adrenodoxin reductase is required for maximal P450scc activity in the presence of saturating human adrenodoxin. Thus, not only is the adrenodoxin concentration low in placental mitochondria, but the amount required for maximal P450scc activity is higher than that for the bovine reductase. Overall, the data indicate that the adrenodoxin reductase concentration limits the activity of P450scc in placental mitochondria and hence determines the rate of progesterone synthesis.     

Site-specific mutations in human ferredoxin that affect binding to ferredoxin reductase and cytochrome P450scc

Ferredoxins found in animal mitochondria function in electron transfer from NADPH-dependent ferredoxin reductase (Fd-reductase) to cytochrome P450 enzymes. To identify residues involved in binding of human ferredoxin to its electron transfer partners, neutral amino acids were introduced in a highly conserved acidic region (positions 68-86) by site-directed mutagenesis of the cDNA. Mutant ferredoxins were produced in Escherichia coli, and separate assays were used to determine the effect of substitutions on the capacity of each mutant to bind to Fd-reductase and cytochrome P450scc and to participate in the cholesterol side chain cleavage reaction. Replacements at several positions (mutants D68A, E74Q, and D86A) did not significantly affect activity, suggesting that acidic residues at these positions are not required for binding or electron transfer interactions. In contrast, substitutions at positions 76 and 79 (D76N and D79A) caused dramatic decreases in activity and in the affinity of ferredoxin for both Fd-reductase and P450scc; this suggests that the binding sites on ferredoxin for its redox partners overlap. Other substitutions (mutants D72A, D72N, E73A, E73Q, and D79N), however, caused differential effects on binding to Fd-reductase and P450scc, suggesting that the interaction sites are not identical. We propose a model in which Fd-reductase and P450scc share a requirement for ferredoxin residues Asp-76 and Asp-79 but have other determinants that differ and play an important role in binding. This model is consistent with the hypothesis that ferredoxin functions as a mobile shuttle in steroidogenic electron transfer, and it is considered unlikely that a functional ternary complex is formed.     

Sensitive assay of cytochrome P450scc activity by high-performance liquid chromatography

We have developed a simple procedure for analyzing the reaction intermediates and product of the cholesterol side-chain cleavage system by high-performance liquid chromatography with uv absorption monitoring. After the cholesterol side-chain cleavage system had been incubated and the reaction then halted by heat treatment, the product was converted into 3-one-4-en steroid showing intense absorption at 240 nm upon reaction with cholesterol oxidase. The converted steroids were then analyzed by normal-phase HPLC. In consequence, the catalytic activity of the reconstituted adrenocortical cytochrome P450scc system was readily assayed with a sensitivity more than 10-fold higher by this conversion. Also, it was shown that 22R-hydroxy-cholest-4-en-3-one could serve as a good substrate for cytochrome P450scc and that the 20R,22R-dihydroxy derivative could be clearly detected as a reaction intermediate in the reconstituted system.     

Role of C-terminal sequence of cytochrome P450scc in folding and functional activity

To elucidate the role of Arg472 and C-terminal sequence of the mature form of cytochrome P450scc, a mitochondrial cytochrome P450, in the present work we have performed sequential removal of the C-terminal amino acid residues of the hemeprotein and evaluated their functional role in folding and catalysis. The removal of 2, 4, 7, or 9 amino acid residues (cytochrome P450scc mutants Delta2, Delta4, Delta7, and Delta9) does not significantly affect the physicochemical properties of the truncated forms of cytochrome P450scc, but results in significant increase in the expression level of the hemeprotein in Escherichia coli (Delta4 cytochrome P450scc mutant). However, removal of 10 C-terminal amino acid residues (Delta10 cytochrome P450scc) of mature form of cytochrome P450scc (replacement of codon for Arg472 for stop-codon) is followed by loss of the ability for correct folding in E. coli. Based on these data, it is concluded that the C-terminal amino acid residues of cytochrome P450scc (DeltaArg472-Ala481) play an important role in correct recombinant protein folding and heme binding by cytochrome P450scc during its expression in E. coli, while folding of mitochondrial cytochrome P450scc during its heterologous expression in bacterial cells is more similar to the folding of prokaryotic soluble cytochrome P450's than to microsomal cytochrome P450's.     

Expression of cytochrome P450scc in Escherichia coli cells: Intracellular location and interaction with bacterial redox proteins

Escherichia coli cells producing the mature form of adrenal cytochrome P450scc were used as a model for study of cytochrome P450scc topogenesis. By disruption of transformed E. coli cells and centrifugation of the homogenate under conventional conditions, we obtained membrane and soluble (high-speed supernatant) fractions both containing the recombinant protein. Gel-permeation high performance liquid chromatography showed that in the high-speed supernatant the native cytochrome P450scc exists exclusively as a component of membrane fragments exceeding 400 kD. These data supported by kinetic assays suggest that the >400-kD particles containing P450scc are lipoprotein associates. In total, we failed to detect a genuine soluble cytochrome P450scc in the E. coli cells, which suggests that membrane insertion is an obligatory stage of holoenzyme formation. In the high-speed supernatant supplemented with NADPH, cytochrome P450scc underwent one-electron reduction and could convert 22R-hydroxycholesterol into pregnenolone. Thus, we have for the first time observed functional coupling of cytochrome P450scc with the bacterial electron transfer system.