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P450 and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) receive their necessary electrons by interaction with the NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (POR). As the POR concentration is limiting when compared with P450 and HO-1, they must effectively compete for POR to function. In addition to these functionally required protein-protein interactions, HO-1 forms homomeric complexes, and several P450s have been shown to form complexes with themselves and with other P450s, raising the question, 'How are the HO-1 and P450 systems organized in the endoplasmic reticulum?' Recently, CYP1A2 was shown to associate with HO-1 affecting the function of both proteins. The goal of this study was to determine if CYP1A1 formed complexes with HO-1 in a similar manner. Complex formation among POR, HO-1, and CYP1A1 was measured using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer, with results showing HO-1 and CYP1A1 form a stable complex that was further stabilized in the presence of POR. The POR•CYP1A1 complex was readily disrupted by the addition of HO-1. CYP1A1 also was able to affect the POR•HO-1 complex, although the effect was smaller. This interaction between CYP1A1 and HO-1 also affected function, where the presence of CYP1A1 inhibited HO-1-mediated bilirubin formation by increasing the KmPOR•HO-1 without affecting the Vmax app. In like manner, HO-1 inhibited CYP1A1-mediated 7-ethoxyresorufin dealkylation by increasing the Km POR•CYP1A1. Based on the mathematical simulation, the results could not be explained by a model where CYP1A1 and HO-1 simply compete for POR, and are consistent with the formation of a stable CYP1A1•HO-1 complex that affected the functional characteristics of both moieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tryptophan metabolites exhibit aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonist activity and recent studies show that the phenylalanine metabolites serotonin and carbidopa, a drug used in treating Parkinson's disease, activated the AhR. In this study, we identified the neuroactive hormone dopamine as an inducer of drug-metabolizing enzymes CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and UGT1A1 in colon and glioblastoma cells and similar results were observed for carbidopa. In contrast, carbidopa but not dopamine exhibited AhR activity in BxPC3 pancreatic cancer cells whereas minimal activity was observed for both compounds in Panc1 pancreatic cancer cells. In contrast with a previous report, the induction responses and cytotoxicity of carbidopa was observed only at high concentrations (100 mM) in BxPC3 cells. Our results show that similar to serotonin and several tryptophan metabolites, dopamine is also an AhR-active compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel procedure for the isolation of Clara cells from rat lung is described. Single-cell suspensions from male F344/TOX rat lungs, prepared by subtilisin digestion, were treated with monochlorobimane (10 microM) and anlaysed by fluorescence-activated flow cytometry. A sub-population of about 2.8% of the total, showing the highest blue fluorescence and by inference the highest GSH concentration, was isolated as Clara cells of > 95% purity. Type II cells of similar purity were sorted after treatment with Phosphine 3R. Both sub-populations were > 90% viable, as judged by Trypan Blue exclusion. Comparison of CYP (cytochrome P-450) isoenzymes between these subpopulations, using Western blotting, showed CYP1A1 to be barely detectable. In Clara cells, CYP2B1 was 10-fold higher than in Type II cells. Mono-oxygenase activity towards the O-deethylation of 3-cyano-7-ethoxycoumarin was 2-fold higher in Clara cells. No activity was detected in macrophages. Pretreating rats with the mono-oxygenase inducers phenobarbitone, 3-methylcholanthrene or Aroclor 1254 showed the last-named to be the most potent inducer of CYP1A1. In Clara cells, CYP1A1 concentration and mono-oxygenase activities were induced > 2000- and 50-fold respectively, whereas in Type II cells increases of 300- and 3.6-fold were seen. Clara cells isolated from the lungs of control rats had a concentration of GSH (2.7 nmol/10(6) cells) that was 9- and 2-fold higher than that in Type II cells or macrophages respectively. GSH depleted by monochlorobimane treatment was restored after 2-3 h incubation with 0.2 M N-acetylcysteine. gamma-Glutamyltranspeptidase activity in Clara cells was 6- and 50-fold higher than in Type II cells or macrophages respectively.

Iron-loaded male C57BL/6 mice allowed free access to an aqueous solution of 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) (2 mg/ml) as their only drink, develop severe uroporphyria within 9 days of a single intraperitoneal dose of 20-methylcholanthrene (MC) (125 mg/kg). At 21 days, uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.37) activities are less than 10% of control activities. The porphyria is not dependent on pretreatment with iron and persists for at least 21 days after withdrawal of ALA. The same intraperitoneal dose of MC does not produce porphyria within 21 days when given without ALA. Continuous administration of ALA markedly accelerates the onset of porphyria in iron-loaded male C57BL/6 mice after a single intraperitoneal dose of hexachlorobenzene (200 mg/kg); mice given phenobarbitone and ALA do not become porphyric. MC with ALA does not produce porphyria in iron-loaded male DBA/2 mice. At least two separate events are needed to produce uroporphyria in mammals: induction of a specific form of cytochrome P-450 and stimulation of the formation of intermediates of haem biosynthesis in the liver. These results show that severe, persistent porphyria can be produced in mammals by compounds other than polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons and suggest that a similar mechanism underlies the porphyrogenic action of halogenated and non-halogenated compounds.

1. The hypothesis that uroporphyria-inducing drugs stimulate the oxidation of uroporphyrinogen by a microsomal NADPH-dependent mechanism was tested. 2. 3,4,3',4'-Tetrachlorobiphenyl, a very effective inducer of uroporphyria in chick-embryo hepatocyte cultures, stimulates the NADPH-dependent oxidation of uroporphyrinogen by chick-embryo microsomal fraction in vitro. 3. Two different actions of 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl are apparently required for this effect: (a) induction of a microsomal system by treatment in vivo and (b) interaction with the induced microsomal fraction in vitro, producing an oxidizing species. 4. The analogue 2,4,2',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl is relatively ineffective in both the production of porphyria in culture and the stimulation of porphyrinogen oxidation in vitro. 5. Rat hepatocytes do not develop uroporphyria when treated with polychlorinated biphenyls in culture, yet they respond to these drugs with typical induction of cytochrome P-448-dependent drug metabolism. 6. These data provide support for the hypothesis of an increased oxidation of uroporphyrinogen in drug-induced uroporphyria, but also suggest that induction of cytochrome P-448 is not the only factor involved. 7. Both I and III isomers of uroporphyrin and heptacarboxylate porphyrin accumulate when chicken hepatocytes are made uroporphyric by drugs; treatment with desferrioxamine causes a marked decrease in both isomers, suggesting that iron may be involved in the accumulation of both.

Uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.37) activity was assayed in cultures of chick-embryo hepatocytes by the changes in composition of porphyrins accumulated after addition of excess 5-aminolaevulinate. Control cells accumulated mainly protoporphyrin, whereas cells treated with 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl or 2,4,5,3',4'-pentabromobiphenyl accumulated mainly uroporphyrin, indicating decreased activity of the decarboxylase. 3-Methylcholanthrene and other polycyclic-hydrocarbon inducers of the P-448 isoenzyme of cytochrome P-450, did not affect the decarboxylase in the absence of the biphenyls. Induction of P-448 was detected as an increase in ethoxyresorufin de-ethylase activity. Pretreatment of cells with methylcholanthrene decreased the time required for the halogenated biphenyls to inhibit the decarboxylase. The dose response of methylcholanthrene showed that less than 40% of the maximal induction of cytochrome P-448 was needed to produce the maximum biphenyl-mediated inhibition of the decarboxylase. In contrast, induction of the cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme by propylisopropylacetamide had no effect on the biphenyl-mediated decrease in decarboxylase activity. Use of inhibitors of the P-450 and P-448 isoenzymes (SKF-525A, piperonyl butoxide and ellipticine) supported the concept that only the P-448 isoenzyme is involved in the inhibition of the decarboxylase by the halogenated biphenyls. The effect of preinduction with methylcholanthrene to enhance inhibition of the decarboxylase was also shown by the increased rate at which porphyrin accumulated from endogenously synthesized 5-aminolaevulinate after treatment of cells with the combination of propylisopropylacetamide and the biphenyls. Antioxidants, chelators of iron, and chromate affected the decrease in decarboxylase activity only if they prevented the induced increase in cytochrome P-448. We conclude that the P-448 and not the P-450 isoenzyme of cytochrome P-450 plays an obligatory role in the inhibition of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase caused by halogenated biphenyls.

Porphyria was induced in C57BL/10 mice with iron overload by a single oral dose (100 mg/kg) of hexachlorobenzene (HCB). Within 2 weeks hepatic uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.37) was inhibited, reaching a maximum (greater than 95%) at 6-8 weeks. There was no recovery by 14 weeks, despite a fall in liver HCB concentrations to only 6% of the day-3 value. The major rise in hepatic porphyrin levels occurred after 4 weeks and secondary inhibition of uroporphyrinogen synthase (EC 4.2.1.75) was inferred from the progressively greater proportion of uroporphyrin I present relative to the III isomer. Plasma alanine aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.2) activity was also elevated. Although, in further studies, total microsomal cytochrome P-450 content and ethoxyphenoxazone de-ethylase activity reached a peak a few days after dosing and had declined significantly at the time of maximum inhibition of the decarboxylase, additional treatment of HCB-dosed mice with a cytochrome P1-450 inducer, beta-naphthoflavone, enhanced the inhibition, whereas piperonyl butoxide, an inhibitor of cytochrome P-450, partially protected. Uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase was not radiolabelled in vivo by [14C]HCB. There was no major difference in the ability to hydroxylate HCB between hepatic microsomes from induced C57BL/10 mice and those from the insensitive DBA/2 strain. By contrast, lipid peroxidation, in the presence of NADPH, was 8-fold greater in control C57BL/10 microsomes than in DBA/2 microsomes and was stimulated by iron treatment (although not by HCB). The results suggest that the inhibition of hepatic uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase is unlikely to be due to a direct effect of a metabolite of HCB but to another process requiring a specific cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme and an unknown iron species.

1. The olfactory epithelium of male hamsters has been found to be extremely active in the cumene hydroperoxide-supported oxidation of tetramethylphenylenediamine, and this peroxidase activity has been shown to be cytochrome P-450-dependent. 2. The interaction of a series of suicide substrates of cytochrome P-450 with the hepatic and olfactory mono-oxygenase systems has been assessed by determination of peroxidase, 7-ethoxycoumarin O-de-ethylase (ECOD) and 7-ethoxyresorufin O-de-ethylase (EROD) activities after treatment in vivo with these compounds. Chloramphenicol, OOS-trimethylphosphorothiolate and two dihydropyridines [DDC (3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine) and 4-ethyl DDC (3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-4-ethyl-1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethylpyridine)] all caused similar percentage inhibitions of hepatic and olfactory activities, but the absolute amounts of enzymic activity lost were considerably greater in the latter tissue. In contrast, halothane had little effect upon hepatic cytochrome P-450-dependent reactions, whereas it severely inhibited those of the olfactory epithelium. 3. The time course of loss and recovery of hepatic and olfactory peroxidase, ECOD and EROD activities after a single dose of 4-ethyl DDC was studied. The rates of loss of activity observed were very similar, irrespective of tissue or reaction examined. In the olfactory epithelium, all three activities recovered concurrently and at a rate similar to that of the hepatic peroxidase activity. In contrast, the hepatic de-ethylation of 7-ethoxycoumarin and 7-ethoxy-resorufin recovered significantly more rapidly. 4. It is suggested that this behaviour is due to 4-ethyl DDC acting not only as a suicidal inhibitor but also as an inducer of certain forms of cytochrome P-450 in the liver; in the olfactory epithelium, however, inactivation, but not induction, occurs. Classical inducing agents were reported to have no effect upon olfactory cytochrome P-450, and in the present study neither phenobarbitone nor beta-naphthoflavone treatment had any effect upon olfactory cytochrome P-450-dependent reactions, although it induced those of the liver.