NADPH- and hydroperoxide-supported 17β-estradiol hydroxylation catalyzed by a variant form (432L, 453S) of human cytochrome P450 1B1

Human cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) catalyzes the hydroxylation of 17β-estradiol (E₂) at C-4, with a lesser activity at C-2. The E₂ 4-hydroxylase activity of human CYP1B1 was first observed in studies of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Sequencing of polymerase chain reaction products revealed that CYP1B1 expressed in MCF-7 cells was not the previously characterized enzyme but a polymorphic form with leucine substituted for valine at position 432 and serine substituted for asparagine at position 453. To investigate the NADPH- and organic hydroperoxide-supported E₂ hydroxylase activities of the 432L, 453S form of human CYP1B1, the MCF-7 CYP1B1 cDNA was cloned and the enzyme was expressed in Sf9 insect cells. In microsomal assays supplemented with human NADPH:cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, the expressed 432L, 453S form catalyzed NADPH-supported E₂ hydroxylation with a similar preference for 4-hydroxylation as the 432V, 453N form, with maximal rates of 1.97 and 0.37 nmol (min)^-1(nmol cytochrome P450)^-1 for 4- and 2-hydroxylation, respectively. Cumeme hydroperoxide efficiently supported E₂ hydroxylation by both the 432V, 453N and 432L, 453S forms at several-fold higher rates than the NADPH-supported activities and with a lesser preference for E₂ 4- versus 2-hydroxylation (2:1). The hydroperoxide-supported activities of both forms were potently inhibited by the CYP1B1 inhibitor, 3,3',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl. These results indicate that the 432V, 453N and 432L, 453S forms of CYP1B1 have similar catalytic properties for E₂ hydroxylation, and that human CYP1B1 is very efficient in catalyzing the hydroperoxide-dependent formation of catecholestrogens. Copyright (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.