The main cytochrome

The main cytochrome P450 (CYP) hepatic enzymes responsible for metabolizing antidepressant drugs... 

Like the examples above, dihydroxyacetanilide epoxidase (DHAE) uses an olefin as the substrate for epoxidation. Its mechanism, however, is fundamentally different from those of cytochrome P450 or flavin-dependent enzymes. Dihydroxyacetanilide is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of the epoxyquinones LL-C10037a, an antitumor agent produced by the actinomycete Streptomyces LL-C10037 [75, 76], and MM14201, an antibiotic produced by Streptomyces MPP 3051 (Scheme 10.20) [77]. The main structural difference between the two antibiotics lies in the opposite stereochemistry of the oxirane ring. 

Two main apoptotic pathways have been identified in mammalian cells the extrinsic pathway that is activated by the binding of ligands to cell-surface death receptors, and the intrinsic pathway that involves the mitochondrial release of cytochrome cP The activation of extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways promotes the cleavage into the active form of the pro-caspase-8 and pro-caspase-9, respectively, that mainly determine the activation of effector caspase-3. ° The intrinsic pathway is the main apoptotic pathway activated by chemotherapeutic drugs, while the cytotoxic drug-induced activation of the extrinsic pathway is a more controversial issue. ... 

Figure 12-8. Principles of the chemiosmotic theory of oxidative phosphorylation. The main proton circuit is created by the coupling of oxidation in the respiratory chain to proton translocation from the inside to the outside of the membrane, driven by the respiratory chain complexes I, III, and IV, each of which acts as a protonpump. Q, ubiquinone C, cytochrome c F Fq, protein subunits which utilize energy from the proton gradient to promote phosphorylation. Uncoupling agents such as dinitrophenol allow leakage of H" across the membrane, thus collapsing the electrochemical proton gradient. Oligomycin specifically blocks conduction of H" through Fq.

The CNS contains much smaller amounts of drug-metabolizing enzymes than does the liver. The concentrations of the main enzymes in the brain, members of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) superfamily, are only 0.25% of concentration in the liver. But the brain enzymes are not uniformly distributed, as they are in the liver they are concentrated in specific brain areas. Theoretical models have explained that drug metabolism in the CNS cannot influence drug distribution in the blood, but there are marked differences in brain tissue levels depending on the presence... 

We propose that the first step in the formation of quinones, as shown in Scheme 3 for BP, involves an electron transfer from the hydrocarbon to the activated cytochrome P-450-iron-oxygen complex. The generate nucleophilic oxygen atom of this complex would react at C-6 of BP in which the positive charge is appreciably localized. The 6-oxy-BP radical formed would then dissociate to leave the iron of cytochrome P-450 in the normal ferric state. Autoxidation of the 6-oxy-BP radical in which the spin density is localized mainly on the oxygen, C-l, C-3 and C-12 (19,20) would produce the three BP diones. 

Although it is still unclear whether the formation of oxidized and hydroxylated products, which is the main pathway of catalytic activities of cytochrome-R-450 reductase, is mediated by free radicals, mitochondrial enzymes are certainly able to produce oxygen radicals as the side products of their reactions. It has been proposed in earlier studies [14,15] that superoxide and hydroxyl radicals (the last in the presence of iron complexes) are formed as a result of the oxidation of reduced NADPH cytochrome-P-450 reductase ... 

In the following sections the effect of pressure on different types of electron-transfer processes is discussed systematically. Some of our work in this area was reviewed as part of a special symposium devoted to the complementarity of various experimental techniques in the study of electron-transfer reactions (124). Swaddle and Tregloan recently reviewed electrode reactions of metal complexes in solution at high pressure (125). The main emphasis in this section is on some of the most recent work that we have been involved in, dealing with long-distance electron-transfer processes involving cytochrome c. However, by way of introduction, a short discussion on the effect of pressure on self-exchange (symmetrical) and nonsymmetrical electron-transfer reactions between transition metal complexes that have been reported in the literature, is presented. 

Reviewing the criteria for inclusion of components into the electron transport chain, Slater (1958) highlighted considerations previously advanced by H.A. Krebs as necessary to establish a pathway, namely that the amounts of enzyme present must be commensurate with enzymic activity in the preparation, activity should be fully restored by the reintroduction of the postulated component into an inhibited or depleted preparation, and that the rates of oxidation and reduction of components must be at least as great as those in the system overall. Reduction of cytochrome b by the systems then in use was thought by Chance (1952) and Slater (1958) to be too slow for the inclusion of this cytochrome into the main chain. 

Solubilization and Partial Purification of Cytochrome P-450 from Hepatic Microsomes of Male, DBA-Pretreated Little Skates. Washed hepatic microsomes (3) from the livers of 10 skates were suspended in 0.25 M sucrose and frozen under nitrogen (-5 to -10°) at the Maine laboratory. They were then packed in dry ice and transported to NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC, within 14 days of preparation and were stored at -62°C until use. Microsomes... 

Dihaloelimination is a two-electron transfer reaction. Thompson et al. [377] reported reductive dichloroelimination of 1,1,2-TCA and TeCA by hepatic micro-somes from rat Ever, with VC and both tDCE and cDCE as metabolites. Reductive dichloroelimination from hexa- and pentachloroethane by microsomal cytochrome P450 was studied by Nastainczyk et al. [378]. The main products of the in vitro metabolism of hexa- and pentachloroethane were PCE (99.5%) and TCE (96%), respectively, with minor amounts of pentachloroethane (0.5%) and TeCA (4%), respectively, via reductive dechlorination. 

Figure 1. Control of mitochondrial biogenesis by the nuclear genome. Most mitochondrial proteins, including cytochrome c, are nuclear gene products which are subsequently imported into mitochondria. Similarly, most enzymes involved in synthesis of mitochondrial phosphoplipids are encoded in the nuclear genome. Being located in the endoplasmatic reticulum, they synthesize phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho), phosphatidylserine (PtdSer), phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and phosphatidylinositol (Ptdins). The phospholipids are transferred to the outer membrane. The imported lipids then move into the inner membrane at contact sites. Mitochondria then diversify phospholipids. They decarboxylate phosphatidylserine to phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtN), but the main reaction is the conversion of imported phosphatidylglycerol to cardiolipin (CL). Cardiolipins localize mainly in the outer leaflet of the inner membrane.

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