UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activities. Guidelines for consistent interim terminology and assay conditions.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K W Bock.
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Preneoplastic liver foci were produced in female Wistar rats by the administration of 2-acetylaminofluorene (0.03% w/w) in the diet for 174 days. Increased UDP-glucuronyltransferase (UDP-GT) could be visualized immunohistochemically in the same focal areas which were ATPase-negative and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase-positive. Immunohistochemical detection was possible using rabbit anti-UDP-GT and peroxidase-labeled swine anti-rabbit immunoglobulins. The results of immunohistochemistry were substantiated by enzyme determination in microdissected material. UDP-GT activity was 5-fold higher in focal areas in comparison with the surrounding liver tissue. Increased UDP-GT activity in conjunction with the altered pattern of other drug-metabolizing enzymes is consistent with increased resistance of preneoplastic cells to the cytotoxicity of carcinogens. Immunohistochemical detection of UDP-GT may provide a new marker for preneoplastic lesions which, in conjunction with other markers, may prove useful in analyzing the various stages of liver carcinogenesis and the remodeling of preneoplastic lesions after cessation of carcinogenic stimuli.
Functional heterogeneity of liver microsomal UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activities towards 1-naphthol, 4-methylumbelliferone or 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene (UDP-GT1 activities) and morphine or 4-hydroxybiphenyl (UDP-GT2 activities) was studied in two inbred strains of mice which are genetically responsive (C57BL/6) or non-responsive (DBA/2) to 3-methylcholanthrene-induction of drug metabolizing enzymes. 3-Methylcholanthrene preferentially induced UDP-GT1 activities in C57BL/6 mice. Phenobarbital, however, at low doses (50 mg/kg), selectively induced UDP-GT2 activities. Higher doses of phenobarbital (80 mg/kg) induced both UDP-GT1 and UDP-GT2 activities. In DBA/2 mice 3-methylcholanthrene-induction of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activities was not detectable whereas enzyme induction by phenobarbital appeared to be unimpaired. UDP-GT1 activities were ubiquitously detectable in mouse tissues whereas appreciable UDP-GT2 activities were only found in liver and small intestinal mucosa. UDP-GT1 (1-naphthol as substrate) was not inhibited by morphine suggesting different active sites for the conjugation of these substrates. The results suggest the presence of at least two functionally different forms of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase in mice. In conjunction with the results of Owens (J. biol. Chem. 252, 2827 (1977)) it is evident that one of these enzyme forms is regulated by the Ah locus.
The selectivity of various inducers of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase was investigated in rat liver microsomes and compared with their effect on monooxygenase reactions. (1) Similar to 3-methyl-cholanthrene beta-naphthoflavone selectively stimulated the glucuronidation of 1-naphthol and 4-methylumbelliferone (GT1 substrates). (2) In contrast, DDT preferentially enhanced the glucuronidation of morphine, 4-hydroxybiphenyl (GT2 substrates) and bilirubin, similar to phenobarbital. (3) Colfibric acid and bezafibrate selectively enhanced bilirubin glucuronidation without affecting GT1 and GT2 reactions. (4) Similar to ethoxyquin and Aroclor 1254, trans-stilbene oxide enhanced both GT1 and GT2 activities but not bilirubin glucuronidation. (5) In contrast to 3-methylcholanthrene-type inducers which induce both cytochrome P-450MC and GT1, probably through a common receptor protein, ethoxyquin and trans-stilbene oxide markedly induced GT1 reactions without affecting benzo[a]pyrene monooxygenase.
Factors controlling 2-naphthylamine mutagenicity were studied using the Ames test. 1) Both rat liver microsomes and cytosolic proteins were required for generation of mutagenic metabolites. 2) 1-Hydroxy-2-naphthylamine, the major metabolite of 2-naphthylamine, was not mutagenic but cytotoxic to bacteria. 3) Ascorbic acid, reduced glutathione and conjugation reactions, such as glucuronidation, were strongly inhibiting 2-naphthylamine mutagenicity. 4) When isolated hepatocytes were used as the activating system mutagenic metabolites could not be detected. However cytotoxicity was detectable at doses of 2-naphthylamine greater than 0.2 mumol/10(6) cells. The results suggest that the formation of genotoxic metabolites of 2-naphthylamine is largely prevented in the intact, non-dividing rat hepatocyte.
In preneoplastic rat liver nodules produced by 2-acetylaminofluorene, certain uridine diphosphate-glucuronyltransferase (UDP-GT) activities, which are ascribed to a distinct enzyme form, were selectively increased (5-fold). This enzyme form, operationally termed UDP-GT1, accepts 1-naphthol,4-methylumbelliferone, and 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene as substrates and is chiefly inducible in liver by 3-methylcholanthrene-type inducers. Glucuronidation of other substrates (morphine, 4-hydroxybiphenyl, chloramphenicol, bilirubin, and estrone) was only slightly enhanced or decreased in nodular tissue. Differentially increased UDP-GT1 activities were also found in Morris hepatomas 9121 and 7777. Rabbit antibodies to rat liver UDP-GT1, purified from 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rats, demonstrated immunological similarity between the enzymes from liver, nodular tissue, and Morris hepatoma 9121. Rocket immunoelectrophoresis ascertained that enhanced enzyme activity in nodular tissue reflected an increased level of enzyme protein. Increased activity of UDP-GT1 together with decreased cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase may contribute to the resistance of preneoplastic hepatocytes to the cytotoxic actions of chemical carcinogens.
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The role of glucuronide and sulfate conjugation in presystemic inactivation of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) metabolites was investigated with rat livers perfused with BP (12 mumol). Comparisons were made between metabolite profiles and mutagenicity of medium from perfusions with and without salicylamide, a selective inhibitor of glucuronide and sulfate conjugation. After 4 h perfusion in the presence of salicylamide, certain BP metabolites (diols, quinones, phenols, and metabolites more polar than BP-9,10-diol) were significantly increased at the expense of quinones and phenols in the glucuronide fraction. Mutagenicity of medium (detected by the Ames test, using tester strains TA98 and TA100) was low in perfusion without salicylamide. Mutagenicity detected with tester strain TA98 was significantly increased in perfusions with salicylamide. Involvement of glucuronidation in BP inactivation was also observed at the subcellular level; when cofactors of glucuronidation were added to liver homogenates along with the NADPH regenerating system in the Ames test, BP mutagenicity was markedly decreased. Both the activation of BP to mutagenic metabolites and the inactivation of BP metabolites by glucuronidation was much more pronounced with liver homogenates from 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rats than with those from phenobarbital-treated animals or untreated controls. The results suggest an important role for glucuronidation and sulfation in the inactivation and elimination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
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Dietary administration of 0.5% ethoxyquin markedly enhanced rat hepatic UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activities. Both 3-methylcholanthrene- and phenobarbital-inducible glucuronidation reactions were stimulated by the antioxidant. In contrast, phenobarbital-inducible bilirubin glucuronidation was not affected by ethoxyquin.
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Glucuronidation reactions catalysed by rat liver microsomal UDP-glucuronyltransferase are differentially inducible by 3-methylcholanthrene and phenobarbital. To elucidate the molecular basis of this functional heterogeneity the enzyme was purified from livers of rats pretreated with the inducing agents. Using cholate solubilization, chromatography on Bio-Gel A-1.5m and on DEAE-cellulose in the presence of the nonionic detergent Brij 58, two enzyme forms could be separated. Both forms were subsequently purified to apparent homogeneity by affinity chromatography on UDP-hexanolamine Sepharose 4B, 3-Methylcholanthrene-inducible enzyme activity towards 1-naphthol, 4-nitrophenol, 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene and N-hydroxy-2-naphthylamine copurified with one enzyme form (enzyme 1). In contrast phenobarbital-inducible enzyme activity towards morphine, chloramphenicol and 4-hydroxybiphenyl was associated with the other enzyme fraction (enzyme 2). Sodium dodecylsulfate/polyacrylamide gels showed similar molecular weights of 54000 for enzyme 1 and 56000 for enzyme 2. The results suggest the presence of at least two forms of UDP-glucuronyltransferase in rat liver. Factors affecting enzyme activity in purified and membrane-bound states are discussed.
Naphthalene or benzo(a)pyrene (100 nmol) was instilled into the closed rat intestinal loop in situ and the appearance of the free compound and its metabolites was determined in portal blood. Naphthalene appeared mostly unchanged in blood whereas benzo(a)pyrene was extensively metabolized by mucosal cells. The results suggest that absorption and metabolism are competing processes in the gut.
Sensitive, reliable and convenient assays are described for the study of human liver microsomal UDP-glucuronyltransferase. Using 14C-1-naphthol as substrate about 2 mg of a liver biopsy specimen and for 14C-morphine about 20 mg of tissue will suffice for enzyme estimation. Lack of inhibition of 1-naphthol glucuronidation by morphine suggests that the substrates are glucuronidated by different forms of the enzyme. Enzyme levels in the native and activated state were studied in biopsies from patients grouped according to histopathological and clinical criteria. The enzyme assays may help to characterize UDP-glucuronyltransferases in human tissues and their induction by drugs and environmental chemicals, as well as their alteration in various diseases.
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