Disparity in holoprotein/apoprotein ratios of different standards used for immunoquantification of hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes

Effects of alcohol-induced increase in CYP2E1 content in human liver microsomes on the activity and cooperativity of CYP3A4

We investigate the effect of the alcohol-induced increase in the content of CYP2E1 in human liver microsomes (HLM) on the function of CYP3A4. Membrane incorporation of the purified CYP2E1 into HLM considerably increases the rate of metabolism of 7-benzyloxyquinoline (BQ) and attenuates the homotropic cooperativity observed with this CYP3A4-specific substrate. It also eliminates the activating effect of α-naphthoflavone (ANF) seen in some HLM samples. To probe the physiological relevance of these effects, we compared three pooled preparations of HLM from normal donors (HLM-N) with a pooled preparation from ten heavy alcohol consumers (HLM-A). The composition of the P450 pool in all samples was characterized by the mass-spectrometric determination of 11 cytochrome P450 species. The fractional content of CYP2E1 in HLM-A was from 2.0 to 3.4 times higher than in HLM-N. In contrast, the content of CYP3A4 in HLM-A was the lowest among all samples. Despite that, HLM-A exhibited a much higher metabolism rate and a lower homotropic cooperativity with BQ, similar to CYP2E1-enriched HLM-N. To substantiate the involvement of interactions between CYP2E1 and CYP3A4 in these effects, we probed hetero-association of these proteins in CYP3A4-containing Supersomes™ with a technique employing CYP2E1 labeled with BODIPY-618 maleimide. These experiments evinced the interactions between the two enzymes and revealed an inhibitory effect of ANF on their association. Our results demonstrate that the functional properties of CYP3A4 are fundamentally dependent on the composition of the cytochrome P450 ensemble and suggest a possible impact of chronic alcohol exposure on the pharmacokinetics of drugs metabolized by CYP3A4.

A repository of protein abundance data of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters for applications in physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling and simulation

Population factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, genotype and disease state can cause inter-individual variability in pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of drugs. Primarily, this variability arises from differences in abundance of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters (DMET) among individuals and/or groups. Hence, availability of compiled data on abundance of DMET proteins in different populations can be useful for developing physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models. The latter are routinely employed for prediction of PK profiles and drug interactions during drug development and in case of special populations, where clinical studies either are not feasible or have ethical concerns. Therefore, the main aim of this work was to develop a repository of literature-reported DMET abundance data in various human tissues, which included compilation of information on sample size, technique(s) involved, and the demographic factors. The collation of literature reported data revealed high inter-laboratory variability in abundance of DMET proteins. We carried out unbiased meta-analysis to obtain weighted mean and percent coefficient of variation (%CV) values. The obtained %CV values were then integrated into a PBPK model to highlight the variability in drug PK in healthy adults, taking lamotrigine as a model drug. The validated PBPK model was extrapolated to predict PK of lamotrigine in paediatric and hepatic impaired populations. This study thus exemplifies importance of the DMET protein abundance database, and use of determined values of weighted mean and %CV after meta-analysis in PBPK modelling for the prediction of PK of drugs in healthy and special populations.

Genotype-sensitive reversible and time-dependent CYP2D6 inhibition in human liver microsomes

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 metabolizes a wide range of xenobiotics and is characterized by a huge interindividual variability. A recent clinical study highlighted differential magnitude of CYP inhibition as a function of CYP2D6 genotype. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of CYP2D6 genotype on the inhibition of dextromethorphan O-demethylation by duloxetine and paroxetine in human liver microsomes (HLMs). The study focused on genotypes defined by the combination of two fully functional alleles (activity score 2, AS 2, n = 6), of one fully functional and one reduced allele (activity score 1.5, AS 1.5, n = 4) and of one fully functional and one non-functional allele (activity score 1, AS 1, n = 6), which all predict extensive metabolizer phenotype. Kinetic experiments showed that maximal reaction velocity was affected by CYP2D6 genotype, with a decrease in 33% of V_max in AS 1 HLMs compared to AS 2 (P = 0.06). No difference in inhibition parameters K_i , K_I and k_inact was observed neither with the competitive inhibitor duloxetine nor with the time-dependent inhibitor paroxetine. Among the genotypes tested, we found no difference in absolute CYP2D6 microsomal levels with ELISA immunoquantification. Therefore, our results suggest that genotype-sensitive magnitude of drug-drug interactions recently observed in vivo is likely to be due to differential amounts of functional enzymes at the microsomal level rather than to a difference in inhibition potencies across genotypes, which motivates for further quantitative proteomic investigations of functional and variant CYP2D6 alleles.

Abundance of Hepatic Transporters in Caucasians: A Meta-Analysis

This study aimed to derive quantitative abundance values for key hepatic transporters suitable for in vitro–in vivo extrapolation within a physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling framework. A meta-analysis was performed whereby data on abundance measurements, sample preparation methods, and donor demography were collated from the literature. To define values for a healthy Caucasian population, a subdatabase was created whereby exclusion criteria were applied to remove samples from non-Caucasian individuals, those with underlying disease, or those with subcellular fractions other than crude membrane. Where a clinically relevant active genotype was known, only samples from individuals with an extensive transporter phenotype were included. Authors were contacted directly when additional information was required. After removing duplicated samples, the weighted mean, geometric mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and between-study homogeneity of transporter abundances were determined. From the complete database containing 24 transporters, suitable abundance data were available for 11 hepatic transporters from nine studies after exclusion criteria were applied. Organic anion transporting polypeptides OATP1B1 and OATP1B3 showed the highest population abundance in healthy adult Caucasians. For several transporters, the variability in abundance was reduced significantly once the exclusion criteria were applied. The highest variability was observed for OATP1B3 > OATP1B1 > multidrug resistance protein 2 > multidrug resistance gene 1. No relationship was found between transporter expression and donor age. To our knowledge, this study provides the first in-depth analysis of current quantitative abundance data for a wide range of hepatic transporters, with the aim of using these data for in vitro–in vivo extrapolation, and highlights the significance of investigating the background of tissue(s) used in quantitative transporter proteomic studies. Similar studies are now warranted for other ethnicities.

Immunochemical quantification of cynomolgus CYP2J2, CYP4A and CYP4F enzymes in liver and small intestine

1. An increasing number of studies have indicated the roles of CYP4 proteins in drug metabolism; however, CYP4 expression has not been measured in cynomolgus monkeys, an important animal species for drug metabolism studies. 2. In this study, cynomolgus CYP4A11, CYP4F2/3, CYP4F11 and CYP4F12, along with CYP2J2, were immunoquantified using selective antibodies in 28 livers and 35 small intestines, and their content was compared with CYP1A, CYP2A, CYP2B6, CYP2C9/19, CYP2D, CYP2E1, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5, previously quantified. 3. In livers, CYP2J2, CYP4A11, CYP4F2/3, CYP4F11 and CYP4F12, varied 1.3- to 4.3-fold, represented 11.2, 14.4, 8.0, 2.7 and 0.3% of total immunoquantified CYP1-4 proteins, respectively. 4. In small intestines, CYP2J2, CYP4F2/3, CYP4F11 and CYP4F12, varied 2.4- to 9.7-fold, represented 6.9, 36.4, 2.4 and 9.3% of total immunoquantified CYP1-4 proteins, respectively, making CYP4F the most abundant P450 subfamily in small intestines. CYP4A11 was under the detection limit in all of the samples analyzed. 5. Significant correlations were found in liver for CYP4A11 with lauric acid 11-/12-hydroxylation and for CYP4F2/3 and CYP4F11 with astemizole hydroxylation. 6. This study revealed the relatively abundant contents of cynomolgus CYP2J2, CYP4A11 and CYP4Fs in liver and/or small intestine, suggesting their potential roles for the metabolism of xenobitotics and endogenous substrates.

Characterization of T-5 N-oxide formation as the first highly selective measure of CYP3A5 activity

Almost half of prescription medications are metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4 and 3A5. CYP3A4 and 3A5 have significant substrate overlap, and there is currently no way to selectively monitor the activity of these two enzymes, which has led to the erroneous habit of attributing the cumulative activity to CYP3A4. While CYP3A4 expression is ubiquitous, CYP3A5 expression is polymorphic, with large individual differences in CYP3A5 expression level. The CYP3A5 genotype has been shown to alter the pharmacokinetics of drugs in clinical trials. We report the first tool compound capable of determining CYP3A5 activity in biologic samples containing both enzymes. Oxidation of T-5 by CYP3A5 yields an N-oxide metabolite that is over 100-fold selective over CYP3A4. Formation of T-5 N-oxide highly correlates with the CYP3A5 genotype and CYP3A5 expression levels in human liver microsomes and human hepatocytes.

Pivotal role of P450-P450 interactions in CYP3A4 allostery: the case of α-naphthoflavone

We investigated the relationship between oligomerization of CYP3A4 (cytochrome P450 3A4) and its response to ANF (α-naphthoflavone), a prototypical heterotropic activator. The addition of ANF resulted in over a 2-fold increase in the rate of CYP3A4-dependent debenzylation of 7-BFC [7-benzyloxy-4-(trifluoromethyl)coumarin] in HLM (human liver microsomes), but failed to produce activation in BD Supersomes or Baculosomes containing recombinant CYP3A4 and NADPH-CPR (cytochrome P450 reductase). However, incorporation of purified CYP3A4 into Supersomes containing only recombinant CPR reproduced the behaviour observed with HLM. The activation in this system was dependent on the surface density of the enzyme. Although no activation was detectable at an L/P (lipid/P450) ratio ≥750, it reached 225% at an L/P ratio of 140. To explore the relationship between this effect and CYP3A4 oligomerization, we probed P450-P450 interactions with a new technique that employs LRET (luminescence resonance energy transfer). The amplitude of LRET in mixed oligomers of the haem protein labelled with donor and acceptor fluorophores exhibited a sigmoidal dependence on the surface density of CYP3A4 in Supersomes™. The addition of ANF eliminated this sigmoidal character and increased the degree of oligomerization at low enzyme concentrations. Therefore the mechanisms of CYP3A4 allostery with ANF involve effector-dependent modulation of P450-P450 interactions.

Mass spectrometry-based quantification of CYP enzymes to establish in vitro/in vivo scaling factors for intestinal and hepatic metabolism in beagle dog

PURPOSE

Physiologically based models, when verified in pre-clinical species, optimally predict human pharmacokinetics. However, modeling of intestinal metabolism has been a gap. To establish in vitro/in vivo scaling factors for metabolism, the expression and activity of CYP enzymes were characterized in the intestine and liver of beagle dog.

METHODS

Microsomal protein abundance in dog tissues was determined using testosterone-6β-hydroxylation and 7-hydroxycoumarin-glucuronidation as markers for microsomal protein recovery. Expressions of 7 CYP enzymes were estimated based on quantification of proteotypic tryptic peptides using multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry. CYP3A12 and CYP2B11 activity was evaluated using selective marker reactions.

RESULTS

The geometric mean of total microsomal protein was 51 mg/g in liver and 13 mg/cm in intestine, without significant differences between intestinal segments. CYP3A12, followed by CYP2B11, were the most abundant CYP enzymes in intestine. Abundance and activity were higher in liver than intestine and declined from small intestine to colon.

CONCLUSIONS

CYP expression in dog liver and intestine was characterized, providing a basis for in vitro/in vivo scaling of intestinal and hepatic metabolism.

Quantitation of human cytochrome P450 2D6 protein with immunoblot and mass spectrometry analysis

Accurate quantification of cytochrome P450 (P450) protein contents is essential for reliable assessment of drug safety, including the prediction of in vivo clearance from in vitro metabolism data, which may be hampered by the use of uncharacterized standards and existence of unknown allelic isozymes. Therefore, this study aimed to delineate the variability in absolute quantification of polymorphic CYP2D6 drug-metabolizing enzyme and compare immunoblot and nano liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (nano-LC/MS) methods in identification and relative quantification of CYP2D6.1 and CYP2D6.2 allelic isozymes. Holoprotein content of in-house purified CYP2D6 isozymes was determined according to carbon monoxide difference spectrum, and total protein was quantified with bicinchoninic acid protein assay. Holoprotein/total CYP2D6 protein ratio was markedly higher for purified CYP2D6.1 (71.0%) than that calculated for CYP2D6.1 Supersomes (35.5%), resulting in distinct linear calibration range (0.05-0.50 versus 0.025-0.25 pmol) that was determined by densitometric analysis of immunoblot bands. Likewise, purified CYP2D6.2 and CYP2D6.10 and the CYP2D6.10 Supersomes all showed different holoprotein/total CYP2D6 protein ratios and distinct immunoblot linear calibration ranges. In contrast to immunoblot, nano-LC/MS readily distinguished CYP2D6.2 (R296C and S486T) from CYP2D6.1 by isoform-specific proteolytic peptides that contain the altered amino acid residues. In addition, relative quantitation of the two allelic isozymes was successfully achieved with label-free protein quantification, consistent with the nominated ratio. Because immunoblot and nano-LC/MS analyses measure total P450 protein (holoprotein and apoprotein) in a sample, complete understanding of holoprotein and apoprotein contents in P450 standards is desired toward reliable quantification. Our data also suggest that nano-LC/MS not only facilitates P450 quantitation but also provides genotypic information.