Long-term exposure to estrogens including those in traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases the risk of developing hormone-dependent cancers. As a result, women are turning to over-the-counter (OTC) botanical dietary supplements such as black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) and hops (Humulus lupulus) as natural alternatives to HRT. The two major mechanisms which likely contribute to estrogen and/or HRT cancer risk are: the estrogen receptor (ER) mediated hormonal pathway; and, the chemical carcinogenesis pathway involving formation of estrogen quinones that damage DNA and proteins, hence initiating and promoting carcinogenesis. Since OTC botanical HRT alternatives are in widespread use they may have the potential for chemopreventive effects on estrogen carcinogenic pathways in vivo. Therefore the effect of OTC botanicals on estrogen-induced malignant transformation of MCF-10A cells was studied. Cytochrome P450 catalyzed hydroxylation of estradiol at the 4-position leads to an o-quinone believed to act as the proximal carcinogen. LC-MS/MS analysis of estradiol metabolites showed that 4-hydroxylation was inhibited by hops, whereas black cohosh was without effect. Estrogen-induced expression of CYP450 1B1 and CYP450 1A1 was attenuated by the hops extract. Two phenolic constituents of hops (xanthohumol, XH; and 8-prenylnaringenin, 8-PN) were tested: 8-PN was a potent inhibitor whereas XH had no effect. Finally, estrogen-induced malignant transformation of MCF-10A cells was observed to be significantly inhibited by hops (5 μg/mL) and 8-PN (50 nM). These data suggest that hops extracts possess cancer chemopreventive activity through attenuation of estrogen metabolism mediated by 8-PN.

No abstract

To address the synthesis of increasingly structurally diverse small-molecule drugs, methods for the generation of efficient and selective biological catalysts are becoming increasingly important. ‘Directed evolution’ is an umbrella term referring to a variety of methods for improving or altering the function of enzymes using a nature-inspired twofold strategy of mutagenesis followed by selection. This article provides an objective assessment of the effectiveness of directed evolution campaigns in generating enzymes with improved catalytic parameters for new substrates from the last decade, excluding studies that aimed to select for only improved physical properties and those that lack kinetic characterization. An analysis of the trends of methodologies and their success rates from 81 qualifying examples in the literature reveals the average fold improvement for kcat (or Vmax), Km and kcat/Km to be 366-, 12- and 2548-fold, respectively, whereas the median fold improvements are 5.4, 3 and 15.6. Further analysis by enzyme class, library-generation methodology and screening methodology explores relationships between successful campaigns and the methodologies employed.

An Escherichia coli strain overexpressing a mutant variant of a phosphoribosyl transferase was developed as a catalyst for the efficient preparation of a range of purine nucleotide analogues. This system offers an efficient and rapid method for nucleotide analogue synthesis with 100% beta-selectivity, providing analytically pure product in a single purification step.

The risk of developing hormone-dependent cancers with long-term exposure to estrogens is attributed both to proliferative, hormonal actions at the estrogen receptor (ER), and chemical carcinogenesis elicited by genotoxic, oxidative estrogen metabolites. Non-tumorigenic MCF-10A human breast epithelial cells are classified as ER(−) and undergo estrogen-induced malignant transformation. Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), in use for breast cancer chemoprevention and for post-menopausal osteoporosis, were observed to inhibit malignant transformation, as measured by anchorage-independent colony growth. This chemopreventive activity was observed to correlate with reduced levels of oxidative estrogen metabolites, cellular ROS, and DNA oxidation. The ability of raloxifene, desmethylarzoxifene (DMA), and bazedoxifene to inhibit this chemical carcinogenesis pathway was not shared by 4-hydroxytamoxifen. Regulation of Phase 2 rather than Phase 1 metabolic enzymes was implicated mechanistically: raloxifene and DMA were observed to upregulate sulfotransferase (SULT 1E1) and glucuronidase (UGT 1A1). The results support upregulation of Phase 2 metabolism in detoxification of catechol estrogen metabolites leading to attenuated ROS formation as a mechanism for inhibition of malignant transformation by a subset of clinically important SERMs.