Project description:Diterpenoid alkaloids (DAs) are major pharmacologically active ingredients of Aconitum vilmorinianum, an important medicinal plant. Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are involved in the DA biosynthetic pathway, and the electron transfer reaction of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) with P450 is the rate-limiting step of the P450 redox reaction. Here, we identified and characterized two homologs of CPR from Aconitum vilmorinianum. The open reading frames of AvCPR1 and AvCPR2 were found to be 2103 and 2100 bp, encoding 700 and 699 amino acid residues, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis characterized both AvCPR1 and AvCPR2 as class II CPRs. Cytochrome c and ferricyanide could be reduced with the recombinant proteins of AvCPR1 and AvCPR2. Both AvCPR1 and AvCPR2 were expressed in the roots, stems, leaves, and flowers of A. vilmorinianum. The expression levels of AvCPR1 and AvCPR2 were significantly increased in response to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment. The yeasts co-expressing AvCPR1/AvCPR2/SmCPR1 and CYP76AH1 all produced ferruginol, indicating that AvCPR1 and AvCPR2 can transfer electrons to CYP76AH1 in the same manner as SmCPR1. Docking analysis confirmed the experimentally deduced functional activities of AvCPR1 and AvCPR2 for FMN, FAD, and NADPH. The functional characterization of AvCPRs will be helpful in disclosing molecular mechanisms relating to the biosynthesis of diterpene alkaloids in A. vilmorinianum.
Project description:Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) play a key role in generating the structural diversity of terpenoids, the largest group of plant natural products. However, functional characterization of CYPs has been challenging because of the expansive families found in plant genomes, diverse reactivity and inaccessibility of their substrates and products. Here we present the characterization of two CYPs, CYP76AH3 and CYP76AK1, which act sequentially to form a bifurcating pathway for the biosynthesis of tanshinones, the oxygenated diterpenoids from the Chinese medicinal plant Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza). These CYPs had similar transcription profiles to that of the known gene responsible for tanshinone production in elicited Danshen hairy roots. Biochemical and RNA interference studies demonstrated that both CYPs are promiscuous. CYP76AH3 oxidizes ferruginol at two different carbon centers, and CYP76AK1 hydroxylates C-20 of two of the resulting intermediates. Together, these convert ferruginol into 11,20-dihydroxy ferruginol and 11,20-dihydroxy sugiol en route to tanshinones. Moreover, we demonstrated the utility of these CYPs by engineering yeast for heterologous production of six oxygenated diterpenoids, which in turn enabled structural characterization of three novel compounds produced by CYP-mediated oxidation. Our results highlight the incorporation of multiple CYPs into diterpenoid metabolic engineering, and a continuing trend of CYP promiscuity generating complex networks in terpenoid biosynthesis.
Project description:Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs) are enzymes that play critical roles in the structural diversification of triterpenoids. To perform site-specific oxidations of the triterpene scaffold, CYPs require electrons transferred by NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR), which is classified into two main classes, class I and class II, based on their structural difference. Lotus japonicus is a triterpenoids-producing model legume with one CPR class I gene (LjCPR1) and a minimum of two CPR class II genes (LjCPR2-1 and LjCPR2-2). CPR classes I and II from different plants have been reported to be involved in different metabolic pathways. By performing gene expression analyses of L. japonicus hairy root culture treated with methyl jasmonate (MeJA), this study revealed that LjCPR1, CYP716A51, and LUS were down-regulated which resulted in no change in betulinic acid and lupeol content. In contrast, LjCPR2s, bAS, CYP93E1, and CYP72A61 were significantly upregulated by MeJA treatment, followed by a significant increase of the precursors for soyasaponins, i.e. β-amyrin, 24-OH β-amyrin, and sophoradiol content. Triterpenoids profile analysis of LORE1 insertion and hairy root mutants showed that the loss of the Ljcpr2-1 gene significantly reduced soyasaponins precursors but not in Ljcpr1 mutants. However, Ljcpr1 and Ljcpr2-1 mutants showed a significant reduction in lupeol and oleanolic, ursolic, and betulinic acid contents. Furthermore, LjCPR1, but not LjCPR2, was crucial for seed development, supporting the previous notion that CPR class I might support plant basal metabolism. This study suggests that CPR classes I and II play different roles in L. japonicus triterpenoid biosynthesis.
Project description:In plants, the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway provides a number of important secondary metabolites including the growth regulator indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indole glucosinolate defense compounds. Genes encoding tryptophan pathway enzymes are transcriptionally induced by a variety of stress signals, presumably to increase the production of both tryptophan and secondary metabolites during defense responses. To understand the mechanism of transcriptional induction, we isolated altered tryptophan regulation (atr) mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana with activated transcription of tryptophan genes. One atr complementation group consisted of mutations in the cytochrome P450 gene CYP83B1. Mutant plants had constitutively activated expression of the ATR1 Myb factor gene, which was identified as a positive regulator of tryptophan genes via the atr mutant screen. cyp83B1 mutants were previously characterized as having defects in IAA homeostasis due to perturbation of secondary tryptophan metabolism. Our findings indicate that the upregulation of tryptophan pathway genes might also contribute to the overaccumulation of IAA in mutant plants. Moreover, we show that cyp83B1 mutants have lesion-mimic phenotypes, suggesting that multiple stress pathways are activated by loss of CYP83B1 function.
Project description:Triterpenoids are plant specialized metabolites with various pharmacological activities. They are widely distributed in higher plants, such as legumes. Because of their low accumulation in plants, there is a need for improving triterpenoid production. Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs) play critical roles in the structural diversification of triterpenoids. To perform site-specific oxidations, CYPs require the electrons that are transferred by NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR). Plants possess two main CPR classes, class I and class II. CPR classes I and II have been reported to be responsible for primary and specialized (secondary) metabolism, respectively. In this study, we first analyzed the CPR expression level of three legumes species, Medicago truncatula, Lotus japonicus, and Glycyrrhiza uralensis, showing that the expression level of CPR class I was lower and more stable, while that of CPR class II was higher in almost all the samples. We then co-expressed different combinations of CYP716As and CYP72As with different CPR classes from these three legumes in transgenic yeast. We found that CYP716As worked better with CPR-I from the same species, while CYP72As worked better with any CPR-IIs. Using engineered yeast strains, CYP88D6 paired with class II GuCPR produced the highest level of 11-oxo-β-amyrin, the important precursor of high-value metabolites glycyrrhizin. This study provides insight into co-expressing genes from legumes for heterologous production of triterpenoids in yeast.
Project description:NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase delivers electrons required by heme oxygenase, squalene monooxygenase, fatty acid desaturase, and 48 human cytochrome P450 enzymes. While conformational changes supporting reductase intramolecular electron transfer are well defined, intermolecular interactions with these targets are poorly understood, in part because of their transient association. Herein the reductase FMN domain responsible for interacting with targets was fused to the N-terminus of three drug-metabolizing and two steroidogenic cytochrome P450 enzymes to increase the probability of interaction. These artificial fusion enzymes were profiled for their ability to bind their respective substrates and inhibitors and to perform catalysis supported by cumene hydroperoxide. Comparisons with the isolated P450 enzymes revealed that even the oxidized FMN domain causes substantial and diverse effects on P450 function. The FMN domain could increase, decrease, or not affect total ligand binding and/or dissociation constants depending on both P450 enzyme and ligand. As examples, FMN domain fusion has no effect on inhibitor ketoconazole binding to CYP17A1 but substantially altered CYP21A2 binding of the same compound. FMN domain fusion to CYP21A2 resulted in differential effects dependent on whether the ligand was 17α-hydroxyprogesterone versus ketoconazole. Similar enzyme-specific effects were observed on steady-state kinetics. These observations are most consistent with FMN domain interacting with the proximal P450 surface to allosterically impact P450 ligand binding and metabolism separate from electron delivery. The variety of effects on different P450 enzymes and on the same P450 with different ligands suggests intricate and differential allosteric communication between the P450 active site and its proximal reductase-binding surface.
Project description:Two NADPH:cytochrome P450 oxidoreductases (CPRs) from parsley (Petroselinum crispum) were cloned, and the complete proteins were expressed and functionally identified in yeast. The two enzymes, designated CPR1 and CPR2, are 80% identical in amino acid sequence with one another and about 75% identical with CPRs from several other plant species. The mRNA accumulation patterns for CPR1 and CPR2 in fungal elicitor-treated or UV-irradiated cultured parsley cells and in developing or infected parsley plants were compared with those for cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H), one of the most abundant CPR-dependent P450 enzymes in plants. All treatments strongly induced the mRNAs for C4H and CPR1 but not for CPR2, suggesting distinct metabolic roles of CPR1 and CPR2 and a functional relationship between CPR1 and C4H.
Project description:NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (CYPOR) is essential for electron donation to microsomal cytochrome P450-mediated monooxygenation in such diverse physiological processes as drug metabolism (approximately 85-90% of therapeutic drugs), steroid biosynthesis, and bioactive metabolite production (vitamin D and retinoic acid metabolites). Expressed by a single gene, CYPOR's role with these multiple redox partners renders it a model for understanding protein-protein interactions at the structural level. Polymorphisms in human CYPOR have been shown to lead to defects in bone development and steroidogenesis, resulting in sexual dimorphisms, the severity of which differs significantly depending on the degree of CYPOR impairment. The atomic structure of human CYPOR is presented, with structures of two naturally occurring missense mutations, V492E and R457H. The overall structures of these CYPOR variants are similar to wild type. However, in both variants, local disruption of H bonding and salt bridging, involving the FAD pyrophosphate moiety, leads to weaker FAD binding, unstable protein, and loss of catalytic activity, which can be rescued by cofactor addition. The modes of polypeptide unfolding in these two variants differ significantly, as revealed by limited trypsin digestion: V492E is less stable but unfolds locally and gradually, whereas R457H is more stable but unfolds globally. FAD addition to either variant prevents trypsin digestion, supporting the role of the cofactor in conferring stability to CYPOR structure. Thus, CYPOR dysfunction in patients harboring these particular mutations may possibly be prevented by riboflavin therapy in utero, if predicted prenatally, or rescued postnatally in less severe cases.
Project description: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.
Project description:This is a report on a symposium sponsored by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and held at the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting in San Diego, California, on April 25, 2012. The symposium speakers summarized and critically evaluated our current understanding of the physiologic, pharmacological, and toxicological roles of NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR), a flavoprotein involved in electron transfer to microsomal cytochromes P450 (P450), cytochrome b(5), squalene mono-oxygenase, and heme oxygenase. Considerable insight has been derived from the development and characterization of mouse models with conditional Por deletion in particular tissues or partial suppression of POR expression in all tissues. Additional mouse models with global or conditional hepatic deletion of cytochrome b(5) are helping to clarify the P450 isoform- and substrate-specific influences of cytochrome b(5) on P450 electron transfer and catalytic function. This symposium also considered studies using siRNA to suppress POR expression in a hepatoma cell-culture model to explore the basis of the hepatic lipidosis phenotype observed in mice with conditional deletion of Por in liver. The symposium concluded with a strong translational perspective, relating the basic science of human POR structure and function to the impacts of POR genetic variation on human drug and steroid metabolism.