Structural features of liver microsomal NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase. Hydrophobic domain, hydrophilic domain, and connecting region.

Detergent-solubilized liver microsomal NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase is known to retain the ability to transfer electrons to cytochrome P-450, whereas the trypsin-solubilized reductase transfers electrons only to artificial acceptors. Due to the loss of a hydrophobic fragment by the action of trypsin, the altered reductase is no longer capable of binding cytochrome P-450. In the present study the primary tryptic attack on the rabbit reductase was shown to be at the Lys 44-Ile 45 bond to liberate the hydrophilic domain (molecular weight, 71,000) from the intact enzyme (molecular weight, 77,000). The other fragment (molecular weight, 4,800) undergoes tryptic attack at the Lys 34-Lys 35-Lys 36 sequence to yield a polypeptide representing the hydrophobic domain of the reductase and a nona- or decapeptide (Lys 35 or Lys 36 through Lys 44) which serves as the connecting region. The hydrophobic peptide, which is derived from the NH2-terminal end of the reductase, has an acetylated NH2 terminus and a region (Val 16 through Phe 32) which is exceptionally hydrophobic, with a predicted beta-sheet structure, and is believed to be involved in the binding of cytochrome P-450 and phospholipid. The site of attack on the reductase by various proteases is different, but the cleavage points are localized within a short segment of the polypeptide chain. A comparison of the tryptic forms (representing the hydrophilic domains) of the rabbit and rat reductases by terminal sequence analysis showed a high degree of similarity, with about 80% of the residues in exact correspondence and only a short variable region near the Ile NH2 terminus.