Participation of cytochrome P-450 in reductive metabolism of 1-nitropyrene by rat liver microsomes.

Reductive metabolism of carcinogenic 1-nitropyrene by rat liver microsomes and reconstituted cytochrome P-450 systems was investigated. Under the nitrogen atmosphere, 1-aminopyrene was the only detected metabolite of 1-nitropyrene. The reductase activity in liver 105,000 X g supernatant fraction was ascribed to DT-diaphorase, aldehyde oxidase, and other unknown enzyme(s) from the results of cofactor requirements and inhibition experiments. The microsomal reductase activity was inhibited by oxygen, carbon monoxide, 2,4-dichloro-6-phenylphenoxyethylamine, and n-octylamine. Flavin mononucleotide markedly enhanced the activity, and 2-diethylaminoethyl-2,2-diphenylvalerate hydrochloride also enhanced it, but slightly. The microsomal activity was induced by the pretreatment of rats with 3-methylcholanthrene, sodium phenobarbital, or polychlorinated biphenyl, and the increments of the activity correlated well with those of the specific contents of cytochrome P-450 in microsomes. The reductase activity could be reconstituted by NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase and forms of cytochrome P-450 purified from liver microsomes of polychlorinated biphenyl-induced rats. Among four forms of cytochrome P-450 examined, an isozyme P-448-IId which showed high activity in hydroxylation of benzo(a)pyrene catalyzed most efficiently the reduction of 1-nitropyrene. The results of this study indicate the central role of cytochrome P-450 in the reductive metabolism of 1-nitropyrene in liver microsomes.