CYP2A13 is the most efficient cytochrome P450 enzyme in the metabolic activation of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), a tobacco-specific lung carcinogen. The aims of this study were to determine the levels of CYP2A13 protein in human lung microsomes and to ascertain whether CYP2A13 plays any role in lung microsomal NNK metabolic activation. The expression of CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 was examined using a high-resolution immunoblotting method, following immunopurification with an anti-CYP2A5 antibody. We found that, of 116 human lung microsomal samples analyzed, ϳ90% had detectable CYP2A6, whereas only 12% had detectable CYP2A13 with a detection limit of ϳ2 fmol of CYP2A/mg protein. For the majority of microsomal samples analyzed, the level of CYP2A13 was found to be lower than the level of CYP2A6; overall, the highest level of CYP2A13 found (ϳ20 fmol/mg protein) was ϳ10-fold lower than the highest level of CYP2A6 detected. Quantitative RNA-polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed that the highly variable expression of the CYP2A proteins was consistent with variations in the levels of the corresponding CYP2A mRNAs in the same tissue samples. It is noteworthy that the level of CYP2A13, but not CYP2A6, was correlated with lung microsomal NNK metabolic activation activity. Furthermore, the addition of 8-methoxypsoralen, a CYP2A inhibitor, led to greater inhibition of NNK metabolic activation in microsomes containing relatively high levels of CYP2A13 than in samples containing no detectable CYP2A13. Taken together, these data indicate that human lung microsomal CYP2A13 is active in NNK metabolic activation. Therefore, individuals having relatively high levels of CYP2A13 expression will likely have an increased risk of developing smoking-related lung cancer.The human cytochrome P450 (P450) CYP2A gene subfamily is known to have two functional members, CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 (Fernandez-Salguero et al., 1995;Su et al., 2000). Previous studies on CYP2A mRNA expression in human tissues indicated that CYP2A6 is expressed in the lung at much lower levels than in the liver, whereas CYP2A13 is selectively expressed in the respiratory tract (Koskela et al., 1999;Su et al., 2000). A more recent study indicated that CYP2A13 is also expressed in the bladder (Nakajima et al., 2006). Heterologously expressed CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 enzymes are both active in the metabolic activation of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), a lung procarcinogen, which is found in cigarettes (Hecht, 1998) and can also be produced endogenously from nicotine metabolites (Hecht et al., 2000). NNK metabolic activation involves P450-catalyzed hydroxylation at one of the two ␣ carbons to the N-nitroso group, leading to the formation of reactive intermediates that can form either DNA adducts or else stable metabolites, including 4-hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (HPB) and 4-oxo-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (OPB) (Hecht, 1998). Although multiple human P450 enzymes, including CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2A13, CYP2B6, CYP2E1, and CYP...

ABSTRACT:CYP2A13, CYP2B6, and CYP2F1, which are encoded by neighboring cytochrome P450 genes on human chromosome 19, are active in the metabolic activation of many drugs, respiratory toxicants, and chemical carcinogens. To facilitate studies on the regulation and function of these human genes, we have generated a CYP2A13/2B6/2F1-transgenic (TG) mouse model (all *1 alleles). Homozygous transgenic mice are normal with respect to gross morphological features, development, and fertility. The tissue distribution of transgenic mRNA expression agreed well with the known respiratory tract-selective expression of CYP2A13 and CYP2F1 and hepatic expression of CYP2B6 in humans. CYP2A13 protein was detected through immunoblot analyses in the nasal mucosa (NM) (ϳ100 pmol/mg of microsomal protein; similar to the level of mouse CYP2A5) and the lung (ϳ0.2 pmol/mg of microsomal protein) but not in the liver of the TG mice. CYP2F1 protein, which could not be separated from mouse CYP2F2 in immunoblot analyses, was readily detected in the NM and lung but not the liver of TG/Cyp2f2-null mice, at levels 10-and 40-fold, respectively, lower than that of mouse CYP2F2 in the TG mice. CYP2B6 protein was detected in the liver (ϳ0.2 pmol/mg of microsomal protein) but not the NM or lung (with a detection limit of 0.04 pmol/mg of microsomal protein) of the TG mice. At least one transgenic protein (CYP2A13) seems to be active, because the NM of the TG mice had greater in vitro and in vivo activities in bioactivation of a CYP2A13 substrate, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (a lung carcinogen), than did the NM of wild-type mice.

The mechanism-based inactivation of human CYP2B6 by ritonavir (RTV) in a reconstituted system was investigated. The inactivation is time, concentration, and NADPH dependent and exhibits a K I of 0.9 mM, a k inact of 0.05 min 21, and a partition ratio of approximately 3. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis showed that the protonated molecular ion of RTV exhibits an m/z at 721 and its two major metabolites are an oxidation product with MH + at m/z 737 and a deacylated product with MH + at m/z 580. Inactivation of CYP2B6 by incubation with 10 mM RTV for 10 min resulted in an approximately 50% loss of catalytic activity and native heme, but no modification of the apoprotein was observed. RTV was found to be a potent mixed-type reversible inhibitor (K i = 0.33 mM) and a type II ligand (spectral dissociation constant-K s = 0.85 mM) of CYP2B6. Although previous studies have demonstrated that RTV is a potent mechanism-based inactivator of CYP3A4, the molecular mechanism responsible for the inactivation has not been determined. Here, we provide evidence that RTV inactivation of CYP3A4 is due to heme destruction with the formation of a heme-protein adduct. Similar to CYP2B6, there is no significant modification of the apoprotein. Furthermore, LC-MS/MS analysis revealed that both CYP3A4 and human liver microsomes form an RTV-glutathione conjugate having a MH + at m/z 858 during metabolism of RTV, suggesting the formation of an isocyanate intermediate leading to formation of the conjugate.

ABSTRACT:The extents to which small intestinal (SI) cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes control the bioavailability of oral drugs are not well defined, particularly for drugs that are substrates for both P450 and the P-glycoprotein (P-gp). In this study, we have determined the role of SI P450 in the clearance of orally administered lovastatin (LVS), an anti-hypercholesterolemia drug, using an intestinal epithelium (IE)-specific P450 reductase knockout (IE-Cpr-null) mouse model. In the IE-Cpr-null mouse, which has little P450 activities in the IE, the oral bioavailability of LVS was substantially higher than that in wild-type (WT) mice (15 and 5%, respectively). In control experiments, the clearance rates were not different between the two strains, either for intraperitoneally dosed LVS, which bypasses SI metabolism, or for orally administered pravastatin, which is known to be poorly metabolized by P450. Thus, our results demonstrate a predominant role of SI P450 enzymes in the first-pass clearance of oral LVS. The absence of IE P450 activities in the IE-Cpr-null mice also facilitated the identification of the molecular targets for orally administered grapefruit juice (GFJ), which is known to inhibit LVS clearance in humans. We found that pretreatment of mice with oral GFJ enhanced the systemic exposure of LVS in WT, but not in IE-Cpr-null mice, a result suggesting that the main target of GFJ action in the small intestine is P450, but not P-gp.