The Effect of Selective Inhibition of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase on Cytochrome P450 After Liver Transplantation in a Rat Model

Xenobiotic Metabolising Enzymes: Impact on Pathologic Conditions, Drug Interactions and Drug Design

Background:

The biotransformation of xenobiotics is a homeostatic defensive response of the body against bioactive invaders. Xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes, important for the metabolism, elimination and detoxification of exogenous agents, are found in most tissues and organs and are distinguished into phase I and phase II enzymes, as well as phase III transporters. The cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes plays a major role in the biotransformation of most xenobiotics as well as in the metabolism of important endogenous substrates such as steroids and fatty acids. The activity and the potential toxicity of numerous drugs are strongly influenced by their biotransformation, mainly accomplished by the cytochrome P450 enzymes, one of the most versatile enzyme systems.

Objective:

In this review, considering the importance of drug metabolising enzymes in health and disease, some of our previous research results are presented, which, combined with newer findings, may assist in the elucidation of xenobiotic metabolism and in the development of more efficient drugs.

Conclusion:

Study of drug metabolism is of major importance for the development of drugs and provides insight into the control of human health. This review is an effort towards this direction and may find useful applications in related medical interventions or help in the development of more efficient drugs.

Nitric oxide-regulated proteolysis of human CYP2B6 via the ubiquitin-proteasome system

We showed previously that rat cytochrome P450 CYP2B1 undergoes NO-dependent proteasomal degradation in response to inflammatory stimuli, and that the related human enzyme CYP2B6 is also down-regulated by NO in primary human hepatocytes. To investigate the mechanism of CYP2B6 down-regulation, we made several cell lines (HeLa and HuH7 cells) in which native CYP2B6 or CYP2B6 with a C-terminal V5 tag (CYP2B6V5) are expressed from a lentiviral vector with a cytomegalovirus promoter. Native CYP2B6 protein was rapidly down-regulated in HeLa cells within 3h of treatment with the NO donor (Z)-1-[2-(2-Aminoethyl)-N-(2-ammonioethyl)amino]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate, while its mRNA level was not down-regulated. Treatment of the cells with the NO donor (Z)-1-[N-(3-aminopropyl)-N-(3-ammoniopropyl)amino]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate also resulted in rapid down-regulation of CYP2B6 activity, measured as the formation of 7-hydroxy-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin, as well as 2B6 protein in the CYP2B6 HeLa cell line. CYP2B6V5 was also down-regulated by NO donors in HuH7 cells. Down-regulation was observed in the presence of cycloheximide, demonstrating that this occurs via a post-translational mechanism. We generated a HeLa cell line expressing both CYP2B6V5 and human nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2), the latter under positive control by tetracycline. The cellular NO produced by doxycycline treatment also effectively down-regulated CYP2B6 protein, which was blocked by the co-treatment with the NOS2 competitive inhibitor L-N^G-nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME). We next investigated the proteolytic enzymes responsible for NO-dependent CYP2B6 degradation. Neither calpain inhibitors (N-Acetyl-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-L-norleucinal, carbobenzoxy-valinyl-phenylalaninal), nor lysosomal protease inhibitors (3-methyladenine and chloroquine) inhibited the NO dependent CYP2B6V5 down-regulation. The proteasome inhibitors MG132 and bortezomib attenuated, but did not completely block the NO-induced down-regulation in the HuH7 cell line. However, when cells were co-treated with NO donor and proteasome inhibitors, high molecular mass species could be detected on native CYP2B6 as well as CYP2B6V5 Western blots. Further investigation demonstrated that CYP2B6 protein was polyubiquitinated and this was dramatically enhanced by co-treatment with NO donor and bortezomib. Taken together, our data demonstrate that CYP2B6 is down-regulated in an NO-dependent manner via ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation.