Activation cytochrome P450 biotransformations

A cytochrome P450 has been purified from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that has benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase activity (King et al. 1984), and metabolizes benzo[fl]pyrene to 3- and 9-hydroxybenzo[fl]pyrene and benzo[fl]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol (Wiseman and Woods 1979). The transformation of PAHs by Candida Upolytica produced predominantly monohydroxyl-ated products naphth-l-ol from naphthalene, 4-hydroxybiphenyl from biphenyl and 3- and 9-hydroxybenzo[fl]pyrene from benzo[fl]pyrene (Cerniglia and Crow 1981). The transformation of phenanthrene was demonstrated in a number of yeasts isolated from littoral sediments and of these, Trichosporumpenicillatum was the most active. In contrast, biotransformation of benz[fl]anthracene by Candida krusei and Rhodotorula minuta was much slower (MacGillivray and Shiaris 1993). 

Relatively innocuous factors can also sometimes influence liver enzyme activity. For example, the metabolic elimination of the bronchodilator theophylline has been reported to be prolonged in patients with influenza A or adenovirus infections. In 1990, an influenza epidemic in Seattle resulted in the admission of 11 children with high serum levels of theophylline and confirmed drug toxicity. These effects appear to be confined to cytochrome P450-based drug biotransformation. They may be related to the generation of interferons as a result of these infections, which, presumably, are causally related to the inhibitory effect on hydroxylases and demethylases. 

The initial activation of compounds is catalysed by various enzymes, depending on the chemical structure of the compound in question. The cytochrome P450 monooxygenase complex (CYP) is the major biotransforming system. In vertebrates it is present in all the organs of the body and particularly abundant in the liver. 

PE-free callus from Polypodium vulgare was shown to biotransform ecdysone fo 20-hydroxyecdysone, which is the last step in the biosynthetic pathway of the main plant PE. This hydroxylation is catalysed by a cytochrome P450 enzyme which was subsequently purified from that source (Canals et al, 2005). In another study, Reixach et al. (1999) have shown that 25-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone was transformed efficiently in both tissues into 20-hydroxyecdysone, but no 25-deoxyecdysteroids such as pterosterone and inokosterone were formed. Likewise, incubation of 2-deoxyecdysone produced exclusively ecdysone and 20E, indicating a high 2-hydroxylase activity in both tissues. 

Humans are exposed continuously and unavoidably to a myriad of potentially toxic chemicals that are inherently lipophilic and, consequently, very difficult to excrete. To effect their elimination, the human body has developed appropriate enzyme systems that can transform metabolically these chemicals to hydrophilic, readily excretable, metabolites. This biotransformation process occurs in two distinct phases. Phase I and Phase II, and involves several enzyme systems, the most important being the cytochromes P450. The expression of these enzyme systems is regulated genetically but can be modulated also other factors, such as exposure to chemicals that can either increase or impair activity. Paradoxically, the same xenobiotic-metabolizing enzyme systems also can convert biologically inactive chemicals to highly reactive intermediates that interact with vital cellular macromolecules and elicit various forms of toxicity. Thus, xenobiotic metabolism does not always lead to deactivation but can result also in metabolic activation with deleterious consequences. 

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