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B Burchell

Publications and source records attributed to B Burchell.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

A novel UDP-Glc-specific glucosyltransferase catalyzing the biosynthesis of 6-O-glucosides of bile acids in human liver microsomes.

Two active site-directed photoaffinity analogs, 5-[beta-32P]azido-UDP-glucuronic acid and 5-[beta-32P]azido-UDP-glucose, were used for the characterization of UDP-sugar-utilizing enzymes in human liver microsomes. Both compounds were recognized by human microsomal proteins: major photolabeled bands of 50-56 kDa were detected. Both photoincorporations were competitively decreased by increasing concentrations of either UDP-Glc or UDP-GlcUA, indicating a high affinity for both nucleotides. The patterns of photoaffinity labeling in the 50-56-kDa range by the two probes were significantly different, indicating the presence of different UDP-GlcUA- and UDP-Glc-specific enzymes of similar molecular mass. The presence of a UDP-Glc-dependent transferase was confirmed by the identification of an enzymatic activity catalyzing the formation of glucosides of the 6 alpha-hydroxylated bile acid hyodeoxycholic acid (3 alpha, 6 alpha-diOH (HDCA)) in the presence of UDP-Glc. The specific activity of 1.5-3.2 nmol/min/mg of protein was similar to that of 6 alpha-glucuronidation of HDCA. The apparent Km for UDP-Glc estimated with HDCA was 280 microM, and the formation of HDCA glucosides was strongly inhibited by UDP-GlcUA (apparent Ki = 7 microM). Evidence is presented that HDCA-specific UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (clone UGT2B4) expressed in V79 cells is not involved in glucosidation of HDCA and is not photolabeled with 5-[beta-32P]azido-UDP-Glc. Rigorous structure identification of the biosynthetic product proved that HDCA was glucosidated at the 6-position. Thus, this UDP-Glc-dependent activity catalyzing the biosynthesis of 6-O-glucosides of 6 alpha-hydroxylated bile acids represents a new pathway in the metabolism of these bile acids.

Adolescent↗

Glucuronidation of thyroid hormone by human bilirubin and phenol UDP-glucuronyltransferase isoenzymes.

The glucuronidation of thyroid hormone by UDP-glucuronyltransferases (UGTs) stably transfected in Chinese hamster V79 lung fibroblasts was investigated. Human bilirubin UGT (HP3) and phenol UGT (HP4) both catalysed the glucuronidation of T4 and rT3, whereas glucuronidation of T3 was not significant, rT3 was the preferred substrate for both isoenzymes, glucuronidation rates being 1.6- and 6.4-times higher than conjugation of T4 by HP3 and HP4 clones, respectively. This is the first identification of thyroid hormone as potential alternative endogenous substrate for bilirubin UGT.

Animals↗

Paracetamol glucuronidation by recombinant rat and human phenol UDP-glucuronosyltransferases.

Stably expressed human and rat phenol UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) of the UGT1 complex (HlugP1, HlugP4 and 3-methylcholanthrene-inducible rat UGT1A1, the latter considered to be an orthologous enzyme to HlugP1) have been used to investigate the role of UGTs in paracetamol glucuronidation. Kinetic analysis of recombinant UGTs was compared to that of total UGT activities in liver microsomes. Paracetamol was found to be an overlapping substrate of several UGTs. It shows higher affinity for HlugP1 and rat UGT1A1 (apparent Km values of 2 and 3 mM, respectively) than for HlugP4 (Km = 50 mM) and other UGTs present in liver microsomes (Km values of > 12 mM). Glucuronidation of paracetamol with HlugP1 contrasts with that of 6-hydroxychrysene and of 4-methylumbelliferone, which are conjugated with higher affinity by HlugP4 than by HlugP1. Due to the wide tissue distribution of rat UGT1A1, paracetamol glucuronidation was also investigated in extrahepatic rat and human tissues. Paracetamol UGT activity was present and inducible by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in rat kidney, lung and spleen. It was also detected in human kidney. A selective cDNA probe for exon 1 of HlugP1 cross-reacted with mRNA from both human liver and kidney. The results demonstrate that paracetamol is conjugated by HlugP1 and its rat orthologue UGT1A1 with higher affinity than by HlugP4 and other UGTs.

Acetaminophen↗

Uptake of acetaminophen (paracetamol) by isolated rat liver cells.

The characteristics of the uptake of acetaminophen (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol or paracetamol, APAP) in incubations of isolated rat liver cells were consistent with diffusion of the drug being the predominant mechanism of APAP influx in these cells at concentrations above 0.5 mM. At lower substrate concentrations (below 0.5 mM) a saturable component was apparent. Both uptake processes could have a role in the control of the metabolism of APAP, because, at low concentrations, there was no intracellular accumulation of unconjugated drug, all the APAP entering the cell being converted to sulphate and glucuronide. After addition of drug, there was a lag phase of approximately 5 min before APAP-glucuronide and APAP-sulphate appeared in the incubation medium; during this time both conjugates accumulated inside the cells. These results have implications for our understanding of the mechanisms of APAP transport, and indicate how these processes may affect the drug's overall metabolism.

Acetaminophen↗

Cloning and functional expression of an apparent splice variant of the murine 5-HT3 receptor A subunit.

The polymerase chain reaction has been employed to isolate a cDNA encoding a functional 5-HT3 receptor subunit from the murine neuroblastoma cell line N1E-115. Overall, the amino acid sequence predicted from this clone demonstrates a 98% homology with the 5-HT3 receptor A subunit cloned from NCB-20 hybridoma cells. A deletion of 6 amino acid residues located within the putative large intracellular loop, which may result from alternative splicing, represents the principal difference between the two clones. Upon expression in Xenopus oocytes, the homo-oligomeric receptor displayed pharmacological properties which define it as a functional 5-HT3 receptor.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The expression of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases of the UGT1 family in human liver and kidney and in response to drugs.

The expression of human UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1 gene family in the liver and kidney was examined using specific enzyme activity, antibodies and DNA probes for each of the four family members. Phenol UGT HP1 was expressed at a similar, relatively low, abundance in each liver and kidney whereas phenol UGT HP4 was more highly expressed in the kidney. Bilirubin UGTs (HP2 and HP3) were not detectable in the kidney and HP3 was the major isoform in the liver. The UGT activities towards certain specific substrates correlated well with the respective mRNA levels in the tissues. Bilirubin UGT HP3 was induced 2-3-fold in the livers from patients treated with phenytoin and phenobarbital. Storage of a human liver in University of Wisconsin solution which contains dexamethasone and insulin caused a large accumulation of all the UGT mRNAs, but these were not quantitatively translated into expressed UGT activities. The implications of these results are discussed.

Aged↗

Multiple UDP-glucuronyltransferases for the glucuronidation of thyroid hormone with preference for 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine (reverse T3).

We have studied the glucuronidation of the thyroid hormones T4, T3 and rT3 by liver microsomes of Wistar, Gunn and WAG rats. Gunn rats have a defect in the gene coding for bilirubin and phenol UDP-glucuronyltransferase (UGT) isoenzymes; WAG rats have a genetic defect in androsterone UGT. In normal Wistar rats UGT activity was approximately 5-fold higher for rT3 than for T4 or T3. UGT activities for T4 and rT3, but not for T3, were impaired in Gunn rats. Conversely, UGT activity for T3, but not for T4 or rT3, was impaired in WAG rats. Thus, in rat liver rT3 is glucuronidated much more rapidly than T4 and T3. Our results support the view that T4 and rT3 are glucuronidated by bilirubin and phenol UGTs and T3 by androsterone UGT.

Androsterone↗

Human UDP-glucuronosyl transferases: chemical defence, jaundice and gene therapy.

Human UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UDPGTs) are a family of enzymes which detoxify many hundreds of compounds by their conjugation to glucuronic acid, rendering them both harmless and more water soluble, hence, excretable. The level of expression of each UDPGT isoform in the body is the result of interplay between temporal, tissue-specific and environmental regulators. This complexity contributes to the difficulty in predicting the metabolic fate of compounds. Genetic defects and polymorphisms affecting individual isoform activities have deleterious and potentially lethal effects, as exemplified by the severe hyperbilirubinaemia observed in Crigler-Najjar Syndrome. Such severe genetic defects in bilirubin glucuronidation are obvious candidates for antenatal screening and gene therapy.

Bilirubin↗

The glucuronidation of hydroxylated metabolites of benzo[a]pyrene and 2-acetylaminofluorene by cDNA-expressed human UDP-glucuronosyltransferases.

The capacity of four cDNA-expressed human liver UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGT), UGT1*6, UGT2B7, UGT2B10 and UGT2B11, to glucuronidate hydroxylated metabolites of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF) has been investigated. UGT1*6 and UGT2B7 glucuronidated a range of B[a]P and AAF metabolites with a degree of regiospecificity, although UGTs 2B10 and 2B11 were inactive towards all compounds screened. UGT2B7 glucuronidated the B[a]P trans 4,5- and 7,8-dihydrodiols and the 1-,2-,4-,5-,6-,8-,9- and 10-monophenols. In contrast, UGT1*6 lacked activity towards the dihydrodiols and metabolized a more limited range of monophenols, namely 4-,5-,8- and 12-hydroxyB[a]P. Both UGT2B7 and UGT1*6 glucuronidated N, 1-,3- and 8-hydroxyAAF, but 5-hydroxyAAF was metabolised only by UGT1*6. Neither enzyme glucuronidated 3-,7- and 11-hydroxyB[a]P and 7- and 9-hydroxyAAF, although these compounds were all metabolised by human liver microsomal UGTs. The results suggest that the relative content of UGT isoforms in a cell or tissue will be important for determining the extent to which a particular carcinogen/mutagen is deactivated.

2-Acetylaminofluorene↗

Cosegregation of intragenic markers with a novel mutation that causes Crigler-Najjar syndrome type I: implication in carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis.

Crigler-Najjar syndrome type 1 (CN-1) is a familial disorder characterized by severe unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia and jaundice and leads to kernicterus, neurological damage, and eventual death unless treated with liver transplantation. Previous reports identified mutations in the UGT1 gene complex to be the cause of the disease. The total absence of all phenol/bilirubin UGT proteins and their activities in liver homogenate of a CN-1 patient was determined by enzymological and immunochemical analysis. A novel homozygous nonsense mutation (CGA-->TGA) was identified in the patient by the combined techniques of PCR and direct sequencing. This mutation was located in exon 3 of the constant region in the gene complex which is common to all phenol and bilirubin UGTs. The segregation of the mutation in the patient's family was analyzed and confirmed the recessive nature of the disease. Newly developed intragenic polymorphic probes (UGT1* 4 and UGT-Const) were used on Southern blots of MspI-digested genomic DNA of the patient and his family. The segregation of individual alleles within the family was observed from haplotypes generated. Comparison of the segregation of haplotypes with the mutation for the patient and his family revealed the allele identified by the A1-B1-C2 haplotype to be carrying the mutation. The risk of recombination occurring is negligible, because of the intragenic nature of the probes. This study demonstrates the potential usefulness of these probes in carrier detection and prenatal/presymptomatic diagnosis.

Alleles↗

Human bilirubin UDP-glucuronosyltransferase catalyzes the glucuronidation of ethinylestradiol.

The synthetic estrogen ethinylestradiol is extensively eliminated as glucuronide metabolites in humans, but the UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) catalyzing this reaction have not been identified. Therefore, ethinylestradiol was tested as a substrate for cloned human UGTs stably expressed in V79 cell lines. Two cloned expressed human enzymes, a bilirubin UGT and a phenol UGT, were observed to catalyze the glucuronidation of ethinylestradiol. High performance liquid chromatographic analysis of the products formed revealed that the expressed bilirubin UGT specifically produced ethinylestradiol-3-glucuronide. In human liver microsomes the ratio of 3-glucuronide/17-glucuronide was 97:3. Subsequent study of the cloned expressed enzymes and human liver microsomes from Crigler-Najjar patients by kinetic analysis and by substrate inhibition strongly indicated that a human liver bilirubin UGT was largely responsible for glucuronidation of ethinylestradiol. These results may provide an explanation for jaundice caused by ethinylestradiol in certain susceptible individuals.

Animals↗

Characterisation of a human bilirubin UDP-glucuronosyltransferase stably expressed in hamster lung fibroblast cell cultures.

A cDNA encoding a human bilirubin UDP-glucuronosyltransferase has been isolated and stably expressed in Chinese hamster V79 lung fibroblast cell line. Western blotting of cell homogenates with anti-UGT antibody revealed a highly expressed protein of approx. 55.5 kDa in size. The expressed enzyme specifically catalysed the formation of bilirubin mono- and diglucuronides, and also catalysed the glucuronidation of two phenolic compounds, which are good substrates for other human UGT isoenzymes, at low rates.

Animals↗

Multiplicity of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases in fish. Purification and characterization of a phenol UDP-glucuronosyltransferase from the liver of a marine teleost, Pleuronectes platessa.

The aim of this work was to determine if a non-mammalian species had multiple UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGT) isoforms. At least six highly purified UDPGT isoenzymes were partially resolved by anion-exchange chromatography and UDP-hexanolamine-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography from liver microsomes of a fish, the plaice. Q-Sepharose FF, chromatofocusing and affinity-chromatographic procedures were employed to separate and purify the phenol UDPGT isoform to apparent homogeneity. The purified enzyme conjugated 1-naphthol, but not bilirubin or steroids, and displayed a pI of 7.0 and a subunit molecular mass of 55 kDa. Bilirubin and testosterone UDPGT activities were more labile and, although purified over 200-fold, these preparations also contained the phenol UDPGT and had multiple polypeptides with molecular masses of 52-57 kDa. Antisera to rat bilirubin/phenol UDPGT and testosterone/phenol UDPGT isoforms cross-reacted strongly with the partially purified plaice UDPGT isoforms of molecular masses 52, 53 and 57 kDa and less strongly with phenol UDPGT 54 kDa and 56 kDa isoforms. Fish and mammalian UDPGTs therefore apparently possess a high degree of evolutionary conservation.

Animals↗

Isolation and characterisation of a new hepatic bilirubin UDP-glucuronosyltransferase. Absence from Gunn rat liver.

A novel UDP-glucuronosyltransferase that conjugates bilirubin IX alpha, bilirubin monoglucuronide and an arylalkanoic acid was purified to homogeneity from clofibrate treated Wistar rats. The enzyme displayed a subunit molecular mass of 54 kDa, a pI of 7.6 and was demonstrated to be N-glycosylated. Sequence analysis of peptides derived by endoproteinase Glu-C cleavage of the purified enzyme indicated that it was a new member of the recently identified UGT1 subfamily. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that this enzyme was absent from Gunn rat liver. The molecular derivation of this enzyme and the lack of it in Gunn rats is discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The distribution of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases in rat liver parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells.

Activities for the glucuronidation of 1-naphthol, morphine and bilirubin as well as for the sulfation of 2-naphthol have been determined in homogenates of parenchymal, Kupffer and endothelial cells isolated from livers of untreated and Aroclor 1254-pretreated rats. In addition, Western blot analyses using different polyclonal antibodies against UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UDP-GTs) were performed with similar preparations. All enzymes under investigation were expressed at high levels in liver parenchymal cells. The constitutive expression and inducibility of UDP-GT isozyme(s) for 1-naphthol glucuronidation was also clearly demonstrated in Kupffer and endothelial cells. Furthermore, the presence of other UDP-GT isozymes was detected in preparations from these cells. No significant sulfation of 2-naphthol was detectable in Kupffer and endothelial cell homogenates. While the glucuronidation of 1-naphthol and morphine was significantly induced in all cell types by Aroclor 1254-pretreatment of the animals, the glucuronidation of bilirubin and the sulfation of 2-naphthol remained unchanged. Since the specific activity of conjugation reactions is much lower in liver nonparenchymal cells than in liver parenchymal cells, and nonparenchymal cells contribute only about 6% to the total liver protein, protection of the cells themselves rather than contribution to the overall metabolism of xenobiotics seems to be the significant role of these xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes in the sinusoidal lining cells.

Animals↗