Localization of NADPH cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase in rat brain by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization and a comparison with the distribution of neuronal NADPH-diaphorase staining.

An antibody to cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, purified from rat liver, has been used for the immunohistochemical localization of cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase-like immunoreactivity in the rat central nervous system. The distribution of this immunoreactivity has been confirmed using in situ hybridization with specific cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase antisense DNA probes. Cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase immunoreactivity was detected in neurons and was found in some glial populations. Immunoreactivity and in situ messenger RNA signals were present in many forebrain areas including the olfactory bulb, in the cerebral cortex, caudate-putamen, globus pallidus, hypothalamus, thalamus and hippocampus. Cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase was also detected in the nucleus of the posterior commissure, superior colliculus, intermediate gray layer, periaqueductal gray and in the molecular, Purkinje and granular layers of the cerebellum. In the brain stem, cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase was detected in the substantia nigra, nucleus locus coeruleus and raphe nucleus. Western blotting studies revealed the brain immunoreactive protein has a mol. wt of approximately 72,000, as reported for cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase purified from rat brain microsomes. The distribution of cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase immunoreactivity was compared with the distribution of cells exhibiting NADPH diaphorase activity, which has been established as a histochemical marker for neuronal nitric oxide synthase, an enzyme which has a C-terminus with some structural similarity with cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase and catalyses a complex reaction resulting in the synthesis of nitric oxide from arginine. In general, cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase immunoreactivity and nitric oxide synthase diaphorase activity did not co-localize; however, some neuronal populations did express nitric oxide synthase and exhibit cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase immunoreactivity. Results of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization experiments suggest cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase is widespread in the rat central nervous system. The distribution pattern of cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase did not match with those of any one neurotransmitter; however, it did coincide with some brain regions known to harbour central catecholaminergic neurons. The general distribution of cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase was similar to the distribution reported for haeme oxygenase 2 and several cytochrome P450 enzymes. It is possible that malfunctions in cytochrome P450 enzyme systems and/or the haeme oxygenase 2 pathways, both of which involve cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, may have implications in neurodegenerative diseases.