Mechanistic aspects of the biosynthesis of oestrogen have been studied with a microsomal preparation from full-term human placenta. The overall transformation, termed the aromatization process, involves three steps using O2 and NADPH, in which the C-19 methyl group of an androgen is oxidised to formic acid with concomitant production of the aromatic ring of oestrogen: [Formula: see text] To study the mechanism of this process in terms of the involvement of the oxygen atoms, a number of labelled precursors were synthesized. Notable amongst these were 19-hydroxy-4-androstene-3,17-dione (II) and 19-oxo-4-androstene-3,17-dione (IV) in which the C-19 was labelled with2H in addition to18O. In order to follow the fate of the labelled atoms at C-19 of (II) and (IV) during the aromatization, the formic acid released from C-19 was benzylated and analysed by mass spectrometry. Experimental procedures were devised to minimize the exchange of oxygen atoms in substrates and product with oxygens of the medium. In the conversion of the 19-[18O] compounds of types (II) and (IV) into 3-hydroxy-1,3,5-(10)-oestratriene-17-one (V, oestrone), it was found that the formic acid from C-19 retained the original substrate oxygen. When the equivalent16O substrates were aromatized under18O2, the formic acid from both substrates contained one atom of18O. It is argued that in the conversion of the 19-hydroxy compound (II) into the 19-oxo compound (IV), the C-19 oxygen of the former remains intact and that one atom of oxygen from O2 is incorporated into formic acid during the conversion of the 19-oxo compound (IV) into oestrogen. This conclusion was further substantiated by demonstrating that in the aromatization of 4-androstene-3,17-dione (I), both the oxygen atoms in the formic acid originated from molecular oxygen. 10β-Hydroxy-4-oestrene-3,17-dione formate, a possible intermediate in the aromatization, was synthesized and shown not to be converted into oestrogen. In the light of the cumulative evidence available to date, stereochemical aspects of the conversion of the 19-hydroxy compound (II) into the 19-oxo compound (IV), and mechanistic features of the C-10–C-19 bond cleavage step during the conversion of the 19-oxo compound (IV) into oestrogen are discussed.

The Candida albicans sterol 14␣-demethylase gene (P-450 14DM , CYP51) was transferred to the yeast plasmid YEp51 placing it under the control of the GAL10 promoter. The resulting construct (YEp51:CYP51) when transformed into the yeast strain GRF18 gave a clone producing 1.5 mol of P-450/liter of culture, the microsomal fraction of which contained up to 2. O 2 and the released formic acid analyzed by mass spectrometry. The results showed that in the acyl-carbon bond cleavage step (i.e. the deformylation process) the original carbonyl oxygen at C-32 of the precursor is retained in formic acid and the second oxygen of formate is derived from molecular oxygen; precisely the same scenario that has previously been observed for the acyl-carbon cleavage steps catalyzed by aromatase (P-450 arom ) and 17␣-hydroxylase-17,20-lyase (P-450 17␣ ,CYP17). In the light of these results the mechanism of the acyl-carbon bond cleavage step catalyzed by the 14␣-demethylase is considered.

It is now well-known that conventional cytochrome P-450s catalyze hydroxylation reactions using an iron mono-oxygen species, the structure of which, as inferred from chemical model studies, may be drrepresented by the following canonical forms: FeV==O<-->(.+)FeIV==O<-->FeIV--O(.). Certain multifunctional P-450s, notably those involved in steroid biosynthesis, catalyze, in addition to hydroxylation reactions, an acyl-carbon cleavage process in which the participation of an iron peroxide intermediate, FeIII--OOH, has been suggested. However the possibility still exists that the C--C bond cleavage may also occur using the FeV==O species. We have scrutinized the chemical consequences of involving either an FeV==O or an FeIII--OOH species for five different C--C bond cleavage reactions. With respect to the status as well as the origin of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, in four of the examples the mechanism involving the FeV==O species makes the same prediction as that using the iron peroxide intermediate, that is, the incorporation of an atom of oxygen from O2 into acyl part of the cleaved fragment. The fifth example, however, involving the formation, with pig testes microsomes, of 17 alpha-hydroxyandrogen (androst-5-ene-3 beta,17 alpha-diol) from pregnenolone, presents an interesting contrast--in this case different outcomes are predicted by the two mechanisms. These possibilities have been experimentally evaluated using substrates stereo- and regiospecifically labeled with heavy isotopes and incubated with pig testes microsomes under either 16O2 or 18O2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A rapid and convenient chemical assay for the enzyme d-glucose 6-phosphate-1l-myoinositol 1-phosphate cyclase is described. The 1l-myoinositol 1-phosphate formed enzymically was oxidized with periodic acid liberating inorganic phosphate, which was assayed. myoInositol 2-phosphate can be assayed in the same way. Glucose 6-phosphate and other primary phosphate esters gave only very small quantities of inorganic phosphate under the conditions described. The K(m) of the enzyme for d-glucose 6-phosphate, 7.5+/-2.5x10(-4)m, was identical with that measured by the radiochemical method. 2-Deoxy-d-glucose 6-phosphate was a powerful competitive inhibitor, K(i) 2.0+/-0.5x10(-5)m, but was not a substrate for the enzyme.

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