Structural analysis of cloned cDNAs for polycyclic hydrocarbon-inducible forms of rabbit liver microsomal cytochrome P-450

Two cDNA clones, pHPah1 and pHPah2, encoding polycyclic hydrocarbon-inducible forms of rabbit liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 were isolated and their nucleotide sequences were determined. The inserts of pHPah1 and pHPah2 contained open reading frames specifying the entire primary structures of cytochrome P-450s, consisting of 518 and 516 amino acid residues, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences for pHPah1 and pHPah2 are 76 and 73% homologous with rat P-450c and P-450d, respectively, and 96% homologous with rabbit P-450 forms 6 and 4, respectively. We conclude that pHPah1 and pHPah2 encode the rabbit counterparts of rat P-450c and P-450d, respectively. A region highly conserved in all species of cytochrome P-450 so far examined, called the HR2 region, can be detected in the pHPah1 and pHPah2 primary structures, but another conserved region, HR1, cannot be observed. Northern hybridization analysis of total RNAs from livers of untreated and drug-treated rabbits demonstrated that the pHPah1 and pHPah2 genes are expressed in untreated animals, induced considerably by administration of 3-methylcholanthrene or beta-naphthoflavone, and suppressed by phenobarbital and isosafrole.