Lipoxin A. Stereochemistry and biosynthesis

Lipoxin A (LXA) was prepared by incubation of either (15S)-15-hydroxy-5,8,11-cis-13-trans-eicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) or (15S)-15-hydroperoxy-5,8,11-cis-13-trans-eicosatetraenoic (15-HPETE) with human leukocytes stimulated by either the ionophore A23187 or the chemotactic peptide fMet-Leu-Phe. Comparison with four trihydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids prepared by total synthesis showed that biologically derived LXA is 5S,6R,15S)-5,6,15-trihydroxy-7,9,13-trans-11-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid. Three isomers of LXA were also identified in extracts of leukocytes utilizing an improved isolation procedure. These were (5S,6S,15S)-5,6,15-trihydroxy-7,9,13-trans-11-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid (6S-LXA), (5S,6R,15S)-5,6,15-trihydroxy-7,9,11,13-trans-eicosatetraenoic acid (11-trans-LXA), and (5S,6S,15S)-5,6,15-trihydroxy-7,9,11,13-trans-eicosatetraenoic acid (6S-11-trans-LXA). 18O2-labeling studies indicated that formation of LXA and its isomers occurred with incorporation of 18O at their C-5 but not C-6 positions. These results suggest that 15-hydroxy-5,6-epoxy-7,9,13-trans-11-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid or its equivalent may serve as one intermediate in the biosynthesis of LXA and 6S-LXA. When added to guinea pig lung strips LXA provoked contractions which were slow in onset and long lasting. In addition, dose response studies showed that biologically derived LXA and synthetic LXA were indistinguishable in this bioassay whereas synthetic 6S-LXA and biologically derived 6S-LXA did not share this activity. Taken together, these results suggest that activated leukocytes utilize exogenous 15-HETE to generate lipoxins which in turn can modulate cellular responses.     

Stereochemistry during aflatoxin biosynthesis: conversion of norsolorinic acid to averufin.

A reaction sequence, norsolorinic acid (NA)-->averantin (AVN)-->5'-hydroxyaverantin (HAVN)-->averufin (AVR), is the early part of a biosynthetic pathway for aflatoxins. In this study, we determined the stereochemical relationship among these metabolites by using chiral high-performance liquid chromatography. In cell-free experiments using the cytosol fraction of Aspergillus parasiticus NIAH-26, (1'S)-AVN was exclusively produced from NA in the presence of NADPH. Also, only (1'S)-AVN, and not (1'R)-AVN, served as a substrate for the reverse reaction from AVN to NA. When the microsome fraction of NIAH-26 was incubated with (1'S)-AVN in the presence of NADPH, two HAVN diastereomers and one AVR enantiomer were formed, whereas these substances were never produced from (1'R)-AVN. Moreover, (1'S,5'R)-AVR was exclusively formed from both HAVN diastereomers by the cytosol fraction in the presence of NAD. The feeding experiments using this mutant showed that aflatoxins were produced from (1'S,5'R)-AVR but not from (1'R,5'S)-AVR. These results indicate that the enzymes involved in this pathway show strict stereospecificity to their substrates and that the configuration of (1'S,5'R)-AVR leading to the formation of aflatoxins is due to the stereospecificity of NA dehydrogenase which catalyzes the reaction between (1'S)-AVN and NA.     

Stereochemistry of the biosynthesis of presqualene alcohol

Current hypotheses of the biosynthesis of presqualene pyrophosphate were tested by the examination of presqualene alcohol biosynthesized from [1R,5R,9R-1,5,9-D₃]farnesyl pyrophosphate and from [1-¹⁸O]farnesyl pyrophosphate. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry showed that the octet of the two cyclopropylcarbinyl protons seen in the spectrum of protio-presqualene alcohol, centered at τ 6.35, was replaced by a broad doublet of one proton (τ, 6.23; J, 6.2 Hz), which became sharpened after deuterium decoupling and was reduced to a singlet after deuterium and proton decoupling. Also the doublet of a single olefinic proton adjacent to the cyclopropane ring, seen in the spectrum of protio-presqualene alcohol at τ 5.08 (J, 8.5 Hz), was reduced to a broad singlet. The presqualene alcohol biosynthesized from the [1-¹⁸O]farnesyl pyrophosphate contained the same isotopic concentration as its precursor. The observations, taken together with previous results, are interpreted to mean that the pyrophosphate-bearing group of one farnesyl pyrophosphate molecule appears without chhnge of configuration, and without previous cleavage of the CO bond of farnesyl pyrophosphate, in presqualene pyrophosphate and that the pro-R hydrogen atom at C-1 of the second farnesyl pyrophosphate molecule appears at C-3 of the cyclopropane ring anti to the vinylic substituent. The observations support the view that presqualene pyrophosphate is not an artifact, but a true intermediate in the biosynthesis of squalene.     

Sterol biosynthesis via lanosterol by the trypanosomid Crithidia fasciculata

Abstract Incorporation of [1-¹⁴ C]acetate by the trypanosomid Crithidia fasciculata showed that ergosterol biosynthesis occurs de novo in this protozoon, via lanosterol and 31-norlanosterol. No cycloartenol could be detected, indicating that this biosynthesis pathway is rather similar to those of other non-photosynthetic organisms (animals, fungi). From the point of view of sterol biosynthesis, C. fasciculata is not related to other ergosterol-synthesising protozoa, such as the hitherto examined phytoflagellates and soil amoebae, which synthesise their sterols via cycloartenol, like photosynthetic organisms (plants, algae).     

A possible role for cytochrome P-450 during the biosynthesis of zymosterol from lanosterol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A cell-free system has been obtained from $\text{Saccharomyces cerevisiae}$ which is capable of efficiently converting lanosterol¹ to a mixture of 4-demethyl sterols, quantitatively the most important identifiable component of which was zymosterol. Little or no ergosterol was synthesized. In the presence of carbon monoxide, the rate of zymosterol biosynthesis from lanosterol was decreased by 57% compared with that observed in control incubations and the amount of unmetabolized lanosterol was greater. Mitochondrial electron transport inhibitors such as cyanide and antimycin A had no effect on the overall rate of 4-demethyl sterol biosynthesis from lanosterol nor on the degree of inhibition by carbon monoxide.     

Stereochemistry of phytoene biosynthesis by isolated chloroplasts

The incorporation of [2-(14)C,(5R)-5-(3)H(1)]MVA* and [2-(14)C,5-(3)H(2)]MVA into geranylgeraniol and phytoene by a preparation of ;non-aqueous' bean leaf chloroplasts has been studied. In the formation of phytoene from two molecules of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, the loss of hydrogen is stereospecific, the hydrogen atom lost from C-1 of each molecule of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate being that which was originally the pro-S hydrogen atom from C-5 of mevalonate. All the pro-R hydrogen atoms from C-5 of mevalonate are retained. These results with a cell-free system confirm and extend the observations made in previous work with tomato slices.     

Microsomal enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis from lanosterol. Solubilization and purification of steroid 8-isomerase

Steroid-8-ene isomerase that catalyzes isomerization of delta 8- to delta 7-sterols has been solubilized from rat liver microsomes with a mixture of two detergents, octylglucoside and sodium taurodeoxycholic acid. During a 40-fold enrichment of the solubilized enzyme, other enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis, endogenous lipids, and electron carriers are removed. A comparison of properties of the solubilized and partially purified isomerase with the membrane-bound enzyme shows they are essentially identical with respect to pH profile, effect of inhibitors and cofactors, substrate specificity, and Km values. Addition of phospholipid to the partially purified enzyme stimulates activity as much as 1.8-fold over control rates. Although the relative rate of isomerization of cholesta-8,24-dien-3 beta-ol is six times that observed with cholest-8-en-3 beta-ol, the delta 8 to delta 7 ratio at equilibrium is approximately equal. The reversibility of the reaction has been demonstrated by the direct conversion of cholest-7-en-3 beta-ol to cholest-8-en-3 beta-ol; at equilibrium the delta 7-isomer is predominant (19/1). The purified enzyme does not catalyze isomerization of cholesta-8,14-dien-3 beta-ol and cholest-8(14)-en-3 beta-ol under conditions that result in equilibrium mixtures of isomers from cholest-8(9)-en-3 beta-ol. These results are consistent with the earlier suggestion that delta 8(14)-sterols are neither formed nor metabolized by the same microsomal enzymes that catalyze transformation of lanosterol to cholesterol.     

Oxidative demethylation of lanosterol in cholesterol biosynthesis: accumulation of sterol intermediates

With [3H-24,25]-dihydrolanosterol as substrate, large-scale metabolic formation of intermediates of lanosterol demethylation was carried out to identify all compounds in the metabolic process. Utilizing knowledge of electron transport of lanosterol demethylation, we interrupted the demethylation reaction allowing accumulation and confirmation of the structure of the oxygenated intermediates lanost-8-en-3 beta,32-diol and 3 beta-hydroxylanost-8-en-32-al, as well as the demethylation product 4,4-dimethyl-cholesta-8,14-dien-3 beta-ol. Further metabolism of the delta 8.14-diene intermediate to a single product 4,4-dimethyl-cholest-8-en-3 beta-ol occurs under interruption conditions in the presence of 0.5 mM CN-1. With authentic compounds, each intermediate has been rigorously characterized by high performance liquid chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography plus mass spectral analysis of isolated and derivatized sterols. Intermediates that accumulated in greater abundance were further characterized by ultraviolet, 1H-NMR, and infrared spectroscopy of the isolated sterols.     

Stereochemistry during aflatoxin biosynthesis: cyclase reaction in the conversion of versiconal to versicolorin B and racemization of versiconal hemiacetal acetate.

(1'R,2'S)-(-)-aflatoxins are produced from racemic versiconal hemiacetal acetate (VHA) through complicated pathways, including a metabolic grid involving VHA, versiconol acetate (VOAc), versiconol, and versiconal (VHOH), and a reaction sequence from VHOH to versicolorin A (VA) through (-)-versicolorin B (VB) [or (+/-)-versicolorin C] (K. Yabe, Y. Ando, and Y. Hamasaki, J. Gen. Microbiol. 137:2469-2475, 1991; K. Yabe, Y. Ando, and T. Hamasaki, Agric. Biol. Chem. 55:1907-1911, 1991). In this study, we examined stereochemical changes of substances formed during the conversion of VHA to VA by using chiral high-performance liquid chromatography. In cell-free experiments using the cytosol of Aspergillus parasiticus NIAH-26, both (2'S)- and (2'R)-VOAc enantiomers were formed at about a 1:2 ratio from racemic VHA in the presence of NADPH and dichlorvos (dimethyl 2,2-dichlorovinylphosphate). Also, the esterase activity catalyzing the conversion of VHA to VHOH or of VOAc to versiconol did not show the stereospecificity for the 2' carbon atom of VHA or VOAc. However, when racemic VHA or racemic VHOH was incubated with the cytosol, (1'R,2'S)-(-)-VB was formed exclusively. Furthermore, only (1'R,2'S)-(-)-VB, and not (1'S,2'R)-(+) antipode, served as a substrate for desaturase activity in the microsome fraction catalyzing the conversion of VB to VA. These results demonstrate that the stereoconfiguration of bis-furan moiety in aflatoxin molecules is determined by the cyclase enzyme catalyzing the reaction from VHOH to VB, and the (1'R,2'S)-(-) configuration was further confirmed by the subsequent desaturase reaction. Remarkably, we found nonenzymatic racemization in both the (2'R)- and (2'S)-VHA enantiomers, and it was dependent upon the temperature and alkaline conditions.     

Regulation of hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis. Effects of a cytochrome P-450 inhibitor on the formation and metabolism of oxygenated sterol products of lanosterol.

The involvement of oxygenated cholesterol precursors in the regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase activity was studied by examining the effect of ketoconazole on the metabolism of mevalonic acid, lanosterol and the lanosterol metabolites, lanost-8-ene-3 beta,32-diol,3 beta-hydroxylanost-8-en-32-al and 4,4-dimethylcholesta-8,14-dien-3 beta-ol, in liver subcellular fractions and hepatocyte cultures. Inhibition of cholesterol synthesis from mevalonate by ketoconazole at concentrations up to 30 microM was due exclusively to a suppression of cytochrome P-450LDM (LDM = lanosterol demethylase) activity, resulting in a decreased rate of lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylation. No enzyme after the 14 alpha-demethylase step was affected. When [14C]mevalonate was the cholesterol precursor, inhibition of cytochrome P450LDM was accompanied by the accumulation of several labelled oxygenated sterols, quantitatively the most important of which was the C-32 aldehyde derivative of lanosterol. There was no accumulation of the 24,25-oxide derivative of lanosterol, nor of the C-32 alcohol. Under these conditions the activity of HMG-CoA reductase declined. The C-32 aldehyde accumulated to a far greater extent when lanost-8-ene-3 beta,32-diol rather than mevalonate was used as the cholesterol precursor in the presence of ketoconazole. With both precursors, this accumulation was reversed at higher concentrations of ketoconazole in liver subcellular fractions. A similar reversal was not observed in hepatocyte cultures.     

Microsomal enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis. Purification of lanosterol 14 alpha-methyl demethylase cytochrome P-450 from hepatic microsomes

Employing reconstitution assays and measurement of cytochrome P-450 content, lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase and cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase have been studied in solubilized preparations of rat hepatic microsomes. Both activities have been resolved from other cytochrome P-450 isozymes and each other by chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel and adsorption on hydroxylapatite. The demethylase has been further purified to homogeneity by cation exchange chromatography on Mono-S resin. The purified cytochrome displays a specific content of 15.8 nmol of heme/mg of protein and a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with an apparent Mr of 51,000. A Soret maximum for the reduced/CO binding complex at 448 nm is observed. Reconstitution of the purified cytochrome with NADPH-cytochrome-c reductase, dilaurylphosphatidylcholine, NADPH, and O2 supports the demethylation process which is inhibited by CO. Reconstitution also affords accumulation of oxygenated, metabolic intermediates with single catalytic turnover of the cytochrome, thus supporting the hypothesis that a single isozyme of cytochrome P-450 is responsible for all three oxidations and the lyase activity involved in the lanosterol C-32 demethylation sequence. Low oxidase activity toward several xenobiotic substrates and selectivity toward endogenous sterol substrates is observed for the purified cytochrome. These results indicate a high degree of substrate specificity for the cytochrome, which would be expected for a constitutive P-450 involved in anabolic biochemical processes.     

Cytochrome P-450-dependent oxidation of lanosterol in cholesterol biosynthesis. Microsomal electron transport and C-32 demethylation

Electron transfer to rat liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 of 14 alpha-methyl group demethylation of 24,25-dihydrolanosterol (C30-sterol) has been studied with a new radio-high-performance liquid chromatography assay. The monooxygenase is dependent upon NADPH plus oxygen, insensitive to CN-, and sensitive to CO. Microsomal oxidation is also sensitive to trypsin digestion, and reactivation is dependent upon the addition of purified, detergent-solubilized cytochrome P-450 reductase. Electron transport of C-32 sterol demethylation can be fully supported by very low concentrations of NADPH (approximately 10 microM) only in the presence of saturating concentrations of NADH (approximately 200 microM) suggesting involvement of cytochrome b5-dependent electron transfer in addition to the NADPH-supported pathway. The cytochrome P-450 of 14 alpha-demethylation has been solubilized with detergents, resolved chromatographically from cytochrome P-450 reductase and cytochrome b5, and fully active C-32 demethylase reconstituted. Incubation of intact microsomes with NADH and very low concentrations of NADPH described above leads to interruption of demethylation without 14 alpha-methyl group elimination. Under these conditions, C-32 oxidation products of the C30-sterol substrate accumulate at the expense of formation of demethylated, C29-sterol products. This enzymic interruption of C-32 demethylation, accumulation of oxygenated C30-sterols, along with subsequent demethylation of the isolated C30-oxysterols under similar oxidative conditions supports the suggestion that 14 alpha-hydroxymethyl and aldehydic sterols are metabolic intermediates of sterol 14 alpha-demethylation. Only very modest inductions of the constitutive cytochrome P-450 isozyme of 14 alpha-methyl sterol oxidase can be obtained with just 2 out of 12 known, potent inducers of mammalian hepatic cytochrome P-450s. Alternatively, administration of complete adjuvant in mineral oil drastically reduces amounts of total microsomal cytochrome P-450 while activity of 14 alpha-methyl sterol oxidase is not affected dramatically. Thus, as much as 2.5-fold enhancement of C-32 oxidase specific activity is obtained when expressed per unit of cytochrome P-450.     

Stereochemistry of estrogen biosynthesis by a reconstituted aromatase cytochrome P-450 preparation from human placenta

According to the literature, the multistep reaction mechanism of estrogen biosynthesis proceeds with stereospecific loss of the equatorial 1 beta-, and axial 2 beta-protons. These results were deduced from experiments carried out, either with crude microsomes, or at best with impure enzyme extracts. However, when [1,2- 3H]4-androstene-3,17-dione of known absolute 3H-label distribution was incubated with a reconstituted enzyme system, consisting of homogeneous NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase and highly purified aromatase, we obtained results that can only be logically explained by a trans- and antiparallel elimination reaction of both the axially oriented C-2 beta-, and C-1-alpha protons. We further demonstrate that the reconstituted enzyme has an aromatase activity optimum at pH 7.2, and an apparent Km of 0.66 microM for NADPH and of 0.24 microM for 4-androstene-3,17-dione. Also, the enzyme requires 3 nmoles of NADPH for each nmole of estrogen that is formed.     

tRNAs in the spotlight during protein biosynthesis.

High resolution crystal structures of the ribosome provide fascinating insights into perhaps the most sophisticated machine of a cell. Yet, this translational apparatus must have developed from a much more primitive structure. Throughout the evolution of this apparatus, tRNAs have been, and still are, key players in the translation process.     

Sterol biosynthesis by a prokaryote: first in vitro identification of the genes encoding squalene epoxidase and lanosterol synthase from Methylococcus capsulatus

Sterol biosynthesis by prokaryotic organisms is very rare. Squalene epoxidase and lanosterol synthase are prerequisite to cyclic sterol biosynthesis. These two enzymes, from the methanotrophic bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus, were functionally expressed in Escherichia coli. Structural analyses of the enzymatic products indicated that the reactions proceeded in a complete regio- and stereospecific fashion to afford (3S)-2,3-oxidosqualene from squalene and lanosterol from (3S)-2,3-oxidosqualene, in full accordance with those of eukaryotes. However, our result obtained with the putative lanosterol synthase was inconsistent with a previous report that the prokaryote accepts both (3R)- and (3S)-2,3-oxidosqualenes to afford 3-epi-lanosterol and lanosterol, respectively. This is the first report demonstrating the existence of the genes encoding squalene epoxidase and lanosterol synthase in prokaryotes by establishing the enzyme activities. The evolutionary aspect of prokaryotic squalene epoxidase and lanosterol synthase is discussed.     

Microsomal enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis from lanosterol. Purification and characterization of delta 7-sterol 5-desaturase of rat liver microsomes

Microsomal delta 7-sterol 5-desaturase of cholesterol biosynthesis is a multienzyme system which catalyzes the introduction of the delta 5-bond into delta 7-cholestenol to form 7-dehydrocholesterol. The detergent-solubilized 5-desaturase has been purified more than 70-fold and resolved from electron carriers and other rat liver microsomal enzymes of sterol biosynthesis by chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel, CM-Sepharose, and immobilized cytochrome b5; the 5-desaturase had not been fully resolved from cytochrom b5 reductase in earlier work. A functional electron transport system for the 5-desaturase has been reconstituted by combining the purified 5-desaturase and electron carriers with egg phosphatidylcholine liposomes. Optimizations of conditions for reconstitution have been obtained; both cytochrome b5 and NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase serve as electron carriers. A pyridine nucleotide-dependent flavoprotein is required and the requirement can be satisfied with either purified cytochrome b5 reductase or cytochrome P-450 reductase. Cyanide and iron-chelators strikingly inhibit the 5-desaturase activity, thus suggesting that 5-desaturase is a metalloenzyme as are other well-characterized cytochrome b5-dependent oxidases. 5-Desaturase is resolved from 4-methyl sterol oxidase activity of cholesterol biosynthesis by chromatography on the immobilized cytochrome b5. This resolution of the two oxidases not only indicates that introduction of the delta 5-bond and oxidation of 4 alpha-methyl groups are catalyzed by different terminal oxidases, but resolution affords enzymes of sufficient purity to carry out reconstitution experiments. A novel assay based on substrate-dependent increments of oxidation of alpha-NADH has been developed for measurement of 5-desaturase activity. Measurement of stoichiometry of 5-desaturase demonstrates that for each equivalent of cis-desaturation of delta 7-cholestenol, 1 eq of NADH is consumed. Along with strict dependence upon oxygen, this observation confirms, as suggested by previous workers, that the 5-desaturation is catalyzed by a mixed function oxidase rather than a dehydrogenase.