Mechanistic studies with purified components of the liver microsomal hydroxylation system: spectral intermediates in reaction of cytochrome P-450 with peroxy compounds.

Recent investigations in this laboratory on the mechanism of action of liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 (P-450 LM) and its interaction with other components of the hydroxylation system are presented. Two electrophoretically homogeneous forms of the cytochrome, phenobarbital-inducible P-450 LM2 and 5,6-benzoflavone-inducible P-450 LM4, so designated according to their relative electrophoretic mobilities, were used in these studies. Phosphatidylcholine is required in the reconstituted enzyme system for rapid electron transfer from NADPH to P-450 LM, catalyzed by NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase, as well as for maximal hydroxylation activity with either molecular oxygen or a peroxy compound serving as oxygen donor to the substrate. The phospholipid facilitates the binding of both substrate and reductase to P-450 LM and apparently causes a structural change in the cytochrome as shown by an increase in alpha-helical content, determined by circular dichroic spectrometry. P-450LM3 and LM4 are one-electron acceptors under anaerobic conditions, in accord with previous potentiometric titrations and product yield data, but in disagreement with previous titrations with reducing agents. The cause for the discrepancy between the present and earlier results is not yet fully understood. Stopped flow spectrophotometry was employed to detect intermediates in the reaction of peroxy compounds with P-450LM2. With m-chloroperbenzoic acid the intermediate formed has absorption maxima at 375, 425, and 540 nm in the absolute spectrum and at 370, 436, and 540 nm in the difference spectrum (intermediate minus oxidized form). A study of the magnitude of the spectral change at various peracid concentrations indicated that with this oxidant the reaction shows a dependence resembling a binding curve. These and other experiments with various oxidants, including cumente hydroperoxide, suggest a reversible two-step mechanism according to the reaction: P-450 LM + oxidant equilibrium C equilibrium D, where C may be an enzyme-oxidant complex and D is a spectral intermediate of unknown structure. A scheme is proposed for the mechanism of action of P-450 LM based on these and earlier studies, including evidence from deuterium isotope experiments for the formation of a substrate carbon radical prior to oxygen transfer.