NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (CYPOR) catalyzes the transfer of electrons to all known microsomal cytochromes P450. A CYPOR variant, with a 4-amino acid deletion in the hinge connecting the FMN domain to the rest of the protein, has been crystallized in three remarkably extended conformations. The variant donates an electron to cytochrome P450 at the same rate as the wild-type, when provided with sufficient electrons. Nevertheless, it is defective in its ability to transfer electrons intramolecularly from FAD to FMN. The three extended CYPOR structures demonstrate that, by pivoting on the C terminus of the hinge, the FMN domain of the enzyme undergoes a structural rearrangement that separates it from FAD and exposes the FMN, allowing it to interact with its redox partners. A similar movement most likely occurs in the wild-type enzyme in the course of transferring electrons from FAD to its physiological partner, cytochrome P450. A model of the complex between an open conformation of CYPOR and cytochrome P450 is presented that satisfies mutagenesis constraints. Neither lengthening the linker nor mutating its sequence influenced the activity of CYPOR. It is likely that the analogous linker in other members of the diflavin family functions in a similar manner. NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (CYPOR)4 is a ϳ78-kDa, multidomain, microsomal diflavin protein that shuttles electrons from NADPH 3 FAD 3 FMN to members of the ubiquitous cytochrome P450 superfamily (1, 2). In humans, the cytochromes P450 (cyt P450) are one of the most important families of proteins involved in the biosynthesis and degradation of a vast number of endogenous compounds and the detoxification and biodegradation of most foreign compounds. CYPOR also donates electrons to heme oxygenase (3), cytochrome b 5 (4), and cytochrome c (5).The FAD receives a hydride anion from the obligate two electron donor NADPH and passes the electrons one at a time to FMN. The FMN then donates electrons to the redox partners of CYPOR, again one electron at a time. Cyt P450 accepts electrons at two different steps in its complex reaction cycle. Ferric cyt P450 is reduced to the ferrous protein, and oxyferrous cyt P450 receives the second of the two electrons to form the peroxo (Fe ϩ3 OO) 2Ϫ cyt P450 intermediate (6). In vivo, CYPOR cycles between the one-and three-electron reduced forms (7,8). Although the one-electron reduced form is an air-stable, neutral blue semiquinone (FMN ox/sq , Ϫ110 mV), it is the FMN hydroquinone (FMN sq/hq , Ϫ270 mV), not the semiquinone, that donates an electron to its redox partners (8 -11). CYPOR is the prototype of the mammalian diflavin-containing enzyme family, which includes nitric-oxide synthase (12), methionine synthase reductase (13,14), and a novel reductase expressed in the cytoplasm of certain cancer cells (15). CYPOR is also a target for anticancer therapy, because it reductively activates anticancer prodrugs (16).CYPOR consists of an N-terminal single ␣-helical transmembrane anchor (ϳ6 kDa) responsible for its local...

Background: cytb 5 modulates catalysis performed by cytsP450, in vivo and in vitro. Results: The structure of full-length cytb 5 was solved by NMR, and the cytP450-binding site on cytb 5 was identified by mutagenesis and NMR. Conclusion: A model of the cytb 5 -cytP450 complex is presented. Addition of a substrate strengthens the cytb 5 -cytP450 interaction. Significance: The cytb 5 -cytP450 complex structure will help unravel the mechanism by which cytb 5 regulates catalysis by cytP450.

The crystal structure of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CYPOR) implies that a large domain movement is essential for electron transfer from NADPH via FAD and FMN to its redox partners. To test this hypothesis, a disulfide bond was engineered between residues Asp 147 and Arg 514 in the FMN and FAD domains, respectively. The cross-linked form of this mutant protein, designated 147CC514, exhibited a significant decrease in the rate of interflavin electron transfer and large (>90%) decreases in rates of electron transfer to its redox partners, cytochrome c and cytochrome P450 2B4. Reduction of the disulfide bond restored the ability of the mutant to reduce its redox partners, demonstrating that a conformational change is essential for CYPOR function.

1 Cytochrome P450 2B4 is a microsomal protein with a multi-step reaction cycle similar to that observed in the majority of other cytochromes P450. The cytochrome P450 2B4-substrate complex is reduced from the ferric to the ferrous form by cytochrome P450 reductase. After binding oxygen, the oxyferrous protein accepts a second electron which is provided by either cytochrome P450 reductase or cytochrome b5. In both instances, product formation occurs. When the second electron is donated by cytochrome b5, catalysis (product formation) is ∼ 10 to 100-fold faster than in the presence of cytochrome P450 reductase. This allows less time for side product formation (hydrogen peroxide and superoxide) and improves by ∼ 15% the coupling of NADPH consumption to product formation. Cytochrome b5 has also been shown to compete with cytochrome P450 reductase for a binding site on the proximal surface of cytochrome P450 2B4. These two different effects of cytochrome b5 on cytochrome P450 2B4 reactivity can explain how cytochrome b5 is able to stimulate, inhibit, or have no effect on cytochrome P450 2B4 activity. At low molar ratios (<1) of cytochrome b5 to cytochrome P450 reductase, the more rapid catalysis results in enhanced substrate metabolism. In contrast, at high molar ratios (>1) of cytochome b5 to cytochrome P450 reductase, cytochrome b5 inhibits activity by binding to the proximal surface of cytochrome P450 and preventing the reductase from reducing ferric cytochrome P450 to the ferrous protein, thereby aborting the catalytic reaction cycle. When the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of cytochrome b5 are equal, it will appear to have no effect on the enzymatic activity. It is hypothesized that cytochrome b5 stimulates catalysis by causing a conformational change in the active site, which allows the active oxidizing oxyferryl species of cytochrome P450 to be formed more rapidly than in the presence of reductase.