1
|
Schiffer L, Anderko S, Hannemann F, Eiden-Plach A, Bernhardt R. The CYP11B subfamily. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2015; 151:38-51. [PMID: 25465475 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2014.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2014] [Revised: 10/10/2014] [Accepted: 10/14/2014] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The biosynthesis of steroid hormones is dependent on P450-catalyzed reactions. In mammals, cholesterol is the common precursor of all steroid hormones, and its conversion to pregnenolone is the initial and rate-limiting step in hormone biosynthesis in steroidogenic tissues such as gonads and adrenal glands. The production of glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids takes place in the adrenal gland and the final steps are catalyzed by 2 mitochondrial cytochromes P450, CYP11B1 (11β-hydroxylase or P45011β) and CYP11B2 (aldosterone synthase or P450aldo). The occurrence and development of these 2 enzymes in different species, their contribution to the biosynthesis of steroid hormones as well as their regulation at different levels (gene expression, cellular regulation, regulation on the level of proteins) is the topic of this chapter.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lina Schiffer
- Institute of Biochemistry, Saarland University, Campus B2.2, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Simone Anderko
- Institute of Biochemistry, Saarland University, Campus B2.2, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Frank Hannemann
- Institute of Biochemistry, Saarland University, Campus B2.2, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Antje Eiden-Plach
- Institute of Biochemistry, Saarland University, Campus B2.2, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Rita Bernhardt
- Institute of Biochemistry, Saarland University, Campus B2.2, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
van der Doelen RHA, Deschamps W, D'Annibale C, Peeters D, Wevers RA, Zelena D, Homberg JR, Kozicz T. Early life adversity and serotonin transporter gene variation interact at the level of the adrenal gland to affect the adult hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Transl Psychiatry 2014; 4:e409. [PMID: 25004389 PMCID: PMC4119224 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2014.57] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2014] [Revised: 05/06/2014] [Accepted: 05/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The short allelic variant of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) promoter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has been associated with the etiology of major depression by interaction with early life stress (ELS). Furthermore, 5-HTTLPR has been associated with abnormal functioning of the stress-responsive hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Here, we examined if, and at what level, the HPA-axis is affected in an animal model for ELS × 5-HTTLPR interactions. Heterozygous and homozygous 5-HTT knockout rats and their wild-type littermates were exposed daily at postnatal days 2-14 to 3 h of maternal separation. When grown to adulthood, plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and the major rat glucocorticoid, corticosterone (CORT), were measured. Furthermore, the gene expression of key HPA-axis players at the level of the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands was assessed. No 5-HTT genotype × ELS interaction effects on gene expression were observed at the level of the hypothalamus or pituitary. However, we found significant 5-HTT genotype × ELS interaction effects for plasma CORT levels and adrenal mRNA levels of the ACTH receptor, such that 5-HTT deficiency was associated under control conditions with increased, but after ELS with decreased basal HPA-axis activity. With the use of an in vitro adrenal assay, naïve 5-HTT knockout rats were furthermore shown to display increased adrenal ACTH sensitivity. Therefore, we conclude that basal HPA-axis activity is affected by the interaction of 5-HTT genotype and ELS, and is programmed, within the axis itself, predominantly at the level of the adrenal gland. This study therefore emphasizes the importance of the adrenal gland for HPA-related psychiatric disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R H A van der Doelen
- Department of Anatomy, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands,Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands,Department of Anatomy, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 21 (route 126), 6525 EZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands. E-mail:
| | - W Deschamps
- Department of Cellular Animal Physiology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - C D'Annibale
- Department of Cellular Animal Physiology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - D Peeters
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands,Department of Cellular Animal Physiology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - R A Wevers
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - D Zelena
- Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - J R Homberg
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - T Kozicz
- Department of Anatomy, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Connell JMC, MacKenzie SM, Freel EM, Fraser R, Davies E. A lifetime of aldosterone excess: long-term consequences of altered regulation of aldosterone production for cardiovascular function. Endocr Rev 2008; 29:133-54. [PMID: 18292466 DOI: 10.1210/er.2007-0030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Up to 15% of patients with essential hypertension have inappropriate regulation of aldosterone; although only a minority have distinct adrenal tumors, recent evidence shows that mineralocorticoid receptor activation contributes to the age-related blood pressure rise and illustrates the importance of aldosterone in determining cardiovascular risk. Aldosterone also has a major role in progression and outcome of ischemic heart disease. These data highlight the need to understand better the regulation of aldosterone synthesis and its action. Aldosterone effects are mediated mainly through classical nuclear receptors that alter gene transcription. In classic epithelial target tissues, signaling mechanisms are relatively well defined. However, aldosterone has major effects in nonepithelial tissues that include increased synthesis of proinflammatory molecules and reactive oxygen species; it remains unclear how these effects are controlled and how receptor specificity is maintained. Variation in aldosterone production reflects interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Although the environmental factors are well understood, the genetic control of aldosterone synthesis is still the subject of debate. Aldosterone synthase (encoded by the CYP11B2 gene) controls conversion of deoxycorticosterone to aldosterone. Polymorphic variation in CYP11B2 is associated with increased risk of hypertension, but the molecular mechanism that accounts for this is not known. Altered 11beta-hydroxylase efficiency (conversion of deoxycortisol to cortisol) as a consequence of variation in the neighboring gene (CYP11B1) may be important in contributing to altered control of aldosterone synthesis, so that the risk of hypertension may reflect a digenic effect, a concept that is discussed further. There is evidence that a long-term increase in aldosterone production from early life is determined by an interaction of genetic and environmental factors, leading to the eventual phenotypes of aldosterone-associated hypertension and cardiovascular damage in middle age and beyond. The importance of aldosterone has generated interest in its therapeutic modulation. Disadvantages associated with spironolactone (altered libido, gynecomastia) have led to a search for alternative mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. Of these, eplerenone has been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk after myocardial infarction. The benefits and disadvantages of this therapeutic approach are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John M C Connell
- Division of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, 126 University Place, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
Cicila GT, Garrett MR, Lee SJ, Liu J, Dene H, Rapp JP. High-resolution mapping of the blood pressure QTL on chromosome 7 using Dahl rat congenic strains. Genomics 2001; 72:51-60. [PMID: 11247666 DOI: 10.1006/geno.2000.6442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
It was previously shown using Dahl salt-sensitive (S) and salt-resistant (R) rats that a blood pressure quantitative trait locus (QTL) was present on rat chromosome 7. In the present work, this QTL was localized to a region less than 0.54 cM in size on the linkage map using a series of congenic strains. This region was contained in a single yeast artificial chromosome that was 220 kb long. This small segment still contained the primary candidate locus Cyp11b1 (11beta-hydroxylase), but the adjacent candidate genes Cyp11b2 (aldosterone synthase) and Cyp11b3 were ruled out. It is concluded that 11beta-hydroxylase, through its known genetic variants altering the production of 18-hydroxy-11-deoxy corticosterone, is very likely to account for the blood pressure QTL on chromosome 7 in the Dahl rat model of hypertension. This QTL accounts for about 23 mm Hg under the condition of 2% NaCl diet for 24 days.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- G T Cicila
- Department of Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio 43614, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Fraser R. Endocrine Hypertension. Compr Physiol 2000. [DOI: 10.1002/cphy.cp070306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
|
6
|
Wotus C, Levay-Young BK, Rogers LM, Gomez-Sanchez CE, Engeland WC. Development of adrenal zonation in fetal rats defined by expression of aldosterone synthase and 11beta-hydroxylase. Endocrinology 1998; 139:4397-403. [PMID: 9751524 DOI: 10.1210/endo.139.10.6230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The adult rat adrenal cortex is comprised of three concentric steroidogenic zones that are morphologically and functionally distinguishable: the zona glomerulosa, zona intermedia, and the zona fasciculata/reticularis. Expression of the zone-specific steroidogenic enzymes, cytochrome P450 aldosterone synthase (P450aldo), and P450 11beta hydroxylase (P45011beta), produced by the zona glomerulosa and zona fasciculata/reticularis, respectively, can be used to define the adrenal cortical cell phenotype of these two zones. In this study, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization were used to determine the ontogeny of expression of P450aldo and P45011beta to monitor the pattern of development of the rat adrenal cortex. RIA was used to measure adrenal content of aldosterone and corticosterone, the resulting products of the two enzymatic pathways. Double immunofluorescent staining for both enzymes at gestational day 16 (E16) showed P45011beta protein expressed in cells distributed throughout most of the adrenal intermixed with a separate, but smaller, population of cells expressing P450aldo protein. Whereas expression of P45011beta protein retained a similar pattern of distribution from E16 to adulthood (ignoring distribution of SA-1 positive, presumptive medullary cells), P450aldo protein changed its pattern of distribution by E19, becoming localized in a discontinuous ring of cells adjacent to the capsule. By postnatal day 1, P450aldo protein distribution was similar to that observed in adult glands; P450aldo-positive cells formed a continuous zone underlying the capsule. In situ hybridization showed that the pattern of P45011beta messenger RNA expression paralleled protein expression at all times, whereas P450aldo messenger RNA paralleled protein at E19 and after, but was undetectable before E19. However, adrenal aldosterone and corticosterone, as measured by RIA, were detected by E16, supporting the functional capacity of both phenotypes for all ages studied. These data suggest that the development of the adrenal zona glomerulosa occurs in two distinct phases; initial expression of the glomerulosa phenotype in scattered cells of the inner cortex before E17, followed by a change in distribution to the outer cortex between E17 and E19. It is hypothesized that this change in distribution occurs via cell differentiation, rather than cell migration, and that a possible regulator of these events is the fetal renin-angiotensin system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C Wotus
- Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
|
8
|
Gomez-Sanchez CE, Gomez-Sanchez EP, Foecking MF, Zhou MY. Inhibition of steroidogenesis in rat adrenal cells by 18-ethynyldeoxycorticosterone: evidence for an alternative pathway of aldosterone biosynthesis. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 1997; 62:207-12. [PMID: 9393956 DOI: 10.1016/s0960-0760(97)00031-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The effect of the mechanism-based inhibitor 18-ethynyldeoxycorticosterone (18-E-DOC) on the late steps of the aldosterone biosynthetic pathway was examined in freshly isolated cells of the zona glomerulosa (ZG) and fasciculata (ZF) from rat adrenal glands. ZG synthesis of aldosterone was inhibited by 18-E-DOC in a time- and concentration-dependent manner with a Ki of approximately 0.05 microM. The maximal degree of inhibition of ZG production of aldosterone and 18-hydroxycorticosterone (18-OH-B) was approximately 80%. ZF cells, perhaps surprisingly, were found to secrete 18-OH-B at levels approximately one-third to one-fourth those of ZG cells and the Ki of 18-E-DOC inhibition of 18-OH-B secretion was approximately 10 microM for ZF cells, 200-fold higher than for ZG cells. The inhibitor had no effect on the secretion of corticosterone by either ZG or ZF, and the secretion of 18-hydroxydeoxycorticosterone (18-OH-DOC) by both the ZG and ZF was inhibited only to a minor degree. 18-E-DOC inhibited the biosynthesis of aldosterone by ZG cells incubated with 10 microM added DOC or 18-OH-DOC by approximately 75%, similar to the degree of inhibition of aldosterone biosynthesis from endogenous substrate, whereas ZF biosynthesis of 18-OH-B from either substrate was inhibited by less than 40%. ZF cells do not express aldosterone synthase, the only enzyme known to convert 18-OH-DOC into 18-OH-B. Incubation of MA-10 cells stably transfected with the cDNA of the rat aldosterone synthase with 18-E-DOC resulted in a complete inhibition of the conversion of DOC to aldosterone with a Ki of approximately 0.02 microM. In addition, transfected cells expressing 11beta-hydroxylase convert DOC to 18-OH-B in very small quantities only and cannot convert 18-OH-DOC to 18-OH-B. These data suggest that neither 11beta-hydroxylase nor aldosterone synthase are responsible for the biosynthesis of 18-OH-B by ZF cells from DOC or 18-OH-DOC, that 20% of aldosterone synthesis appears not to be attributable to the actions of aldosterone synthase and that an unknown CYP11B enzyme is also involved in the biosynthesis of 18-OH-B.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C E Gomez-Sanchez
- Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, 65201, U.S.A.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Brochu M, Lehoux JG, Picard S. Effects of gestation on enzymes controlling aldosterone synthesis in the rat adrenal. Endocrinology 1997; 138:2354-8. [PMID: 9165022 DOI: 10.1210/endo.138.6.5198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
In the present study, the effects of gestation on various enzymes implicated in corticosteroid synthesis were evaluated in adrenal zona glomerulosa and zona fasciculata-reticularis of the Sprague-Dawley rat. The activity and expression of cholesterol side-chain cleavage cytochrome P450, 11beta-hydroxylase cytochrome P450, and aldosterone synthase cytochrome P450 (P450aldo) were analyzed. Plasma aldosterone levels were increased significantly at 22 days gestation (n = 10) and fell below the nonpregnant levels at 18-36 h postpartum (n = 11). The activity and expression of 11beta-hydroxylase cytochrome P450 and cholesterol side-chain cleavage cytochrome P450 were not modified by gestation. P450aldo activity increased at 14 days gestation (n = 4) and returned to the prepregnancy level at 2 weeks postpartum (n = 5). As shown by Northern blot analysis (n = 3), P450aldo messenger RNA increased significantly at 22 days gestation and decreased 18-36 h postpartum. We clearly demonstrated that elevated plasma aldosterone levels during pregnancy are associated with augmented activity and messenger RNA levels of P450aldo in the zona glomerulosa.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Brochu
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine's Hospital, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Gomez-Sanchez CE, Zhou MY, Cozza EN, Morita H, Eddleman FC, Gomez-Sanchez EP. Corticosteroid synthesis in the central nervous system. Endocr Res 1996; 22:463-70. [PMID: 8969897 DOI: 10.1080/07435809609043732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The possibility that adrenocorticosteroids might be synthesized in the central nervous system was assessed by RT-PCR using primers for the CYP11B1 gene which codes for 11 beta-hydroxylase, the enzyme responsible for corticosterone and cortisol formation in the zona fasciculata, incubation of minces of several areas of the brain with 3H-DOC and measuring steroid metabolites, and determining the effect of the intracerebroventricular infusion of the 11 beta-hydroxylase mechanism-based inhibitor 19-ethynyldeoxycorticosterone upon the salt-induced increase in blood pressure in SS/jr rats. Significant, though small relative to the adrenal, amounts of mRNA for 11 beta-hydroxylase was found in the aorta, cerebrum, cerebellum, hippocampus, hypothalamus and amygdala, but not in the heart. Brain minces converted 3H-DOC to corticosterone and 11-dehydrocorticosterone to a greater degree than to 18-OH-DOC. The effect of 19-ethynyldeoxycorticosterone was dose dependent, with the lower doses preventing salt-induced hypertension and the higher doses having no effect or increasing the blood pressure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C E Gomez-Sanchez
- Department of Internal Medicine, Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, Columbia, Missouri, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
Gomez-Sanchez EP, Zhou M, Morita H, Cozza EN, Foecking MF, Gomez-Sanchez CE. Mutations in the 11 beta-hydroxylase genes in the Dahl SS and SR rats. Endocr Res 1996; 22:493-4. [PMID: 8969901 DOI: 10.1080/07435809609043736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- E P Gomez-Sanchez
- Dept of Internal Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia 65201, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
12
|
Abstract
Essential hypertensive patients often respond to treatments mitigating mineralocorticoid action, even though circulating levels of these steroids are within normal ranges. In addition to the kidney, mineralocorticoid or Type I receptors are found in the brain and vascular smooth muscle where they mediate effects associated with several forms of experimental hypertension. Studies in which discrete anatomic or functional areas of the brain have been ablated demonstrate that the periventricular areas of the hypothalamus and the central sympathetic and baroreceptor systems are crucial for the development of hypertension in the renoprival, DOCA salt, and Dahl salt-sensitive rat. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) infusion of aldosterone in both rats and dogs at doses that do not raise serum levels above normal produce hypertension. The hypertension produced by systemic mineralocorticoid excess, adrenal regeneration, and i.c.v. or oral administration of glycyrrhetinic acid or carbenoxolone in genetically normotensive rats and by dietary salt in the Dahl salt-sensitive rat is inhibited by the i.c.v. infusion of a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist or a Na+ channel-selective amiloride analog. Recent data demonstrate the extraadrenal synthesis of steroids in aortic endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and the brain. The role of the extraadrenal synthesis of steroids raises new avenues for research into the causes of hypertension.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- E P Gómez-Sánchez
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|