Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

L'exposition humaine aux contaminants environnementaux est inévitable du fait de leur présence dans l'eau, l'air et l'alimentation. La plupart d'entre eux sont reconnus comme étant mutagènes et/ou carcinogènes chez l'animal mais ils sont souvent seulement suspectés de l'être chez l'Homme. Le manque de connaissance vis-à-vis des substances chimiques a conduit l'UE à lancer le programme REACH avec l'objectif d'évaluer la toxicité d'environ 30 000 molécules. Cette évaluation nécessiterait l'utilisation de plus de 4 millions d'animaux et la pertinence controversée de ces modèles pourrait aboutir à des conclusions discutables. Les méthodes in vitro sont considérées comme une alternative potentielle à l'expérimentation animale. Néanmoins, le choix du modèle cellulaire et des conditions expérimentales restent à préciser. Les hépatocytes humains en culture primaire représentent le modèle le plus pertinent en toxicologie malgré de nombreuses contraintes (variabilité inter-individuelle, changements phénotypique précoces, obtention aléatoire). La lignée HepaRG constitue une alternative intéressante puisque ces cellules peuvent proliférer de manière illimitée et expriment les EMXs à des niveaux proches des hépatocytes humains. L'expression de ces enzymes restant stable pendant plusieurs semaines, ce modèle permet l'évaluation du risque lié à une exposition chronique aux contaminents environnementaux, essentielle en génotoxicité. Il reste cependant nécessaire de caractériser plus amplement cette lignée vis-à-vis des EMXs et de l'adapter aux tests de toxicologie actuels. Dans ces travaux, nous avons développé un test haut débit utilisant la quantification in situ des histones phosphorylées γH2AX avec l'objectif de pouvoir évaluer le risque génotoxique d'une exposition unique ou répétée aux contaminants environnementaux. Ce test a été validé avec succès par l'évaluation de la génotoxicité associée à une exposition de 1, 7 et 14 jours pour 10 polluants. Nous avons ensuite généré des lignées recombinantes biosenseurs, dérivées du modèle HepaRG et permettant d'identifier les xénobiotiques altérant l'expression transcriptionnelle des EMXs. Par transfection transitoire, nous avons dans un premier temps validé à l'aide d'inducteurs prototypiques et de nos 10 contaminants nos constructions contenant le gène rapporteur de la luciférase sous le contrôle des promoteurs de plusieurs EMXs. Ensuite, nous avons généré des lignées stables exprimant la GFP comme gène rapporteur et permettant une détection rapide des xénobiotiques capables d'induire l'expression des EMXs. Parmi les EMXs, le CYP2E1 joue un rôle important en santé humaine. En effet, cette enzyme induite dans certaines conditions physiopathologiques comme le diabète et l'obésité est responsable de l'activation de nombreux procarcinogènes et est à l'origine d'une production d'EROs. Les cellules HepaRG pourraient constituer un modèle pertinent pour l'étude du CYP2E1. Cependant, l'expression et l'activité de cette enzyme au sein de ce modèle nécessitent d'être mieux caractérisées en regard des données discordantes de la littérature. A l'aide de la chlorzoxazone, un marqueur spécifique de l'activité du CYP2E1, nous avons démontré l'influence du métabolisme de phase II sur l'activité apparente du CYP2E1. Nous proposons ici quelques recommandations afin de mieux quantifier l'activité du CYP2E1 sur les hépatocytes humains et sur le modèle HepaRG à l'aide la chlorzoxazone. / Human exposure to toxic chemicals is virtually unavoidable due to contamination of air, water and food. A number of environmental contaminants are recognized as mutagenic and/or carcinogenic in animal but they are often only suspected to have similar effects in Humans. The lack of knowledge on the effects of most industrial-made chemicals has led the EU to launch the REACH program with the aim of evaluating the toxicity of more than 30.000 molecules. Such evaluation would require the use of at least 4 millions of animals for an estimated cost of 2.8 billions €. While the relevance of these in vivo models remains controversial.

Le cytochrome b6f est un complexe majeur de la chaîne photosynthétique oxygénique de par son activité quinol:plastocyanine oxydoréductase, qui contribue à la formation d’ATP via un transfert d’électrons couplé à un transfert de protons. La présence d’un hème c particulier lié par une seule liaison covalente, l’hème ci, au sein du site de réduction de quinone Qi du cytochrome b6f constitue une différence notable en comparaison avec son homologue de la chaîne respiratoire, le cytochrome bc1. Un cytochrome b6f dépourvu d’hème ci est dégradé, sa faible accumulation ne permet pas une croissance photosynthétique. Cette observation a donné lieu à une recherche de suppresseurs permettant une plus grande accumulation de cytochrome b6f dont la fonction même altérée, serait suffisante pour assurer une croissance photosynthétique. Cette approche génétique de recherche de suppresseur a été entreprise chez Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Ce travail de thèse a permis l’isolation et la caractérisation d’un mutant de la protéase FtsH1 (mutation R420C qui affecterait l’activité ATPasique). Le mutant ftsh1-1 s’est révélé être un outil puissant pour l’étude fonctionnelle de complexes mutés autrement dégradés. Une approche multidisciplinaire combinant expériences de génétique, biochimie, physiologie et biophysique a démontré notamment que : (i) le mutant QiKO, dont le complexe b6f est dépourvu des hèmes bh et ci, peut pousser de manière phototrophique malgré un Q-cycle cassé, (ii) l’absence d’hème ci lié covalemment, pour le mutant Rccb2, génère une photosensibilité exacerbée en présence d’oxygène, ce qui sous-tend un rôle pour l’hème ci dans un environnement riche en oxygène, (iii) la protéase FtsH exerce un contrôle qualité global des complexes majeurs photosynthétiques. / Central in oxygenic photosynthesis, the cytochrome b6f complex, couples electron transfer to proton translocation across the thylakoid membrane via its quinol:plastocyanin oxidoreductase activity, contributing to ATP formation. Cytochrome b6f complex differs from its respiratory homolog, the bc1 complex, by the presence of an additional heme, heme ci located within the quinone reduction site Qi and attached by a unique thioether bond. Mutants lacking heme ci show low accumulation of partially functional b6f complex and, hence, cannot grow phototrophically. This grounded a screen for suppressor mutations that would restore higher accumulation of b6f complexes whose function, even if compromised, would sustain phototrophic growth.The genetic suppressor approach undertook in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii during this PhD thesis led to the isolation and characterisation of the ftsh1-1 protease mutant (mutation R420C which should affect ATP hydrolysis). The mutant ftsh1-1 proved to be a versatile tool for the functional study of otherwise degraded proteins. The combination of genetic, biochemical, physiological and biophysical experiments demonstrated notably that: (i) a QiKO mutant, whose b6f complexes are devoid of both bh and ci hemes, can grow phototrophically despite a broken Q-cycle, (ii) the absence of covalently bound heme ci, in the Rccb2 mutant, triggers photosensivity enhanced in the presence of O2 supporting a role for heme ci in oxygen rich environment, (iii) FtsH is involved in the maintenance of the main photosynthetic complexes.

No / Duocarmycin natural products are promising anti-cancer cytotoxins but too potent for systemic use. Re-engineering of the duocarmycin scaffold has enabled the discovery of prodrugs designed for bioactivation by tissue-specific cytochrome P450 enzymes. Lead prodrugs bioactivated by both P450 isoforms CYP1A1 and CYP2W1 have shown promising results in xenograft studies, however to fully understand the potential of these agents it is desirable to compare dual-targeting compounds with isoform-selective analogs. Such redesign requires insight into the molecular interactions with these P450 enzymes. Herein binding and metabolism of the individual stereoisomers of the indole-based duocarmycin prodrug ICT2700 and a nontoxic benzofuran analog ICT2726 were evaluated with CYP1A1 and CYP2W1, revealing differences exploitable for drug design. While enantiomers of both compounds bound to and were metabolized by CYP1A1, the stereochemistry of the chloromethyl fragment was critical for CYP2W1 interactions. CYP2W1 differentially binds the S enantiomer of ICT2726 and its metabolite profile could potentially be used as a biomarker to identify CYP2W1 functional activity. In contrast to benzofuran-based ICT2726, CYP2W1 differentially binds the R isomer of the indole-based ICT2700 over the S stereoisomer. Thus the ICT2700 R configuration warrants further investigation as a scaffold to favor CYP2W1-selective bioactivation. Furthermore, structures of both duocarmycin S enantiomers with CYP1A1 reveal orientations correlating with nontoxic metabolites and further drug design optimization could lead to a decrease of CYP1A1 bioactivation. Overall, distinctive structural features present in the two P450 active sites can be useful for improving P450-and thus tissue-selective-bioactivation. Significance Statement Prodrug versions of the natural product duocarmycin can be metabolized by human tissue-specific cytochrome P450 enzymes 1A1 and 2W1 to form an ultrapotent cytotoxin and/or high affinity 2W1 substrates to potentially probe functional activity in situ The current work defines the binding and metabolism by both P450 enzymes to support the design of duocarmycins selectively activated by only one human P450 enzyme. / National Institutes of Health and Yorkshire Cancer Research Program Grant (B381PA)

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(1) Ten monoclonal antibodies have been raised against human hepatic microsomal proteins, seven of which recognised a purified human liver cytochrome P450, P450hA7. (2) Two of the seven anti-P450hA7 monoclonal antibodies, when blotted against control and induced rat liver microsomes, recognised a male-specific, weakly expressed constitutive protein that showed marked induction by pregnenolone-16-carbonitrile (PCN) but not by phenobarbitone (PB). No such P450 has been previously reported. (3) Another of the anti-P450hA7 monoclonal antibodies recognised a protein that was not expressed in control, male or female, rat liver microsomes but was strongly expressed in both PCN- and PB-induced microsomes. This protein may correspond to cytochrome P450PCN1 which exhibits identical induction characteristics. (4) A third rat protein, strongly and constitutively expressed in male liver microsomes, is recognised by other anti-P450hA7 antibodies. This protein may be induced by PCN. (5) The hepatic microsomal level of immunoreactive P450hA7 in fifteen adult individuals showed marked interindividual variation and was approximately ten times higher in an epiletic chronically treated with the drugs PB, phenytoin, carbamazipine and valproate. (6) Foetal human liver microsomes contained a protein that was immunochemically similar, but not identical, to adult P450hA7. The foetal protein exhibited a slightly greater molecular mass than the adult form. The switch from the foetal to the adult form of P450hA7 occurred shortly after birth. (7) P450hA7 was immunochemically detected in HEP G2 human hepatoma cells. The cytochrome was constitutively expressed being present in cells treated with PB, PCN and benzanthracene as well as untreated cells. (8) The anti-P450hA7 antibodies have been put to a variety of applications including the immunohistochemical localisation of cytochrome P450hA7 in human tissue and the screening of human hepatic cDNA libraries in gtll. (9) These monoclonal antibodies constitute a precise and powerful tool for the further characterisation of the human cytochromes P450.

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OleTJE (CYP152L1) is a P450 peroxygenase that was first isolated from Jeotgalicoccus sp. 8456 in 2011. OleTJE is primarily a fatty acid decarboxylase, converting mid-chain fatty acids (C10:0 to C22:0) to terminal alkenes, which are industrially useful petrochemicals. Terminal alkenes are hydrophobic with high energy density, and are compatible with existing transportation infrastructure. Thus OleTJE has attracted considerable interest due to potential applications for generating "drop-in" biofuels. As a P450 peroxygenase, OleTJE is able to utilise H2O2 as a sole oxygen and hydrogen donor. This is atypical of P450s, which usually require electron transfer from redox partners to perform substrate oxidation. Other P450 peroxygenases have previously been characterised, including fatty acid hydroxylases P450 Spalpha (CYP152B1) from Sphingomonas paucimobilis and P450 BSβ (CYP152A1) from Bacillus subtilis. In addition to decarboxylation, OleTJE also hydroxylates fatty acids, generating 2-OH and 3-OH fatty acids as minor products. P450 BSβ has also been reported to perform low levels of decarboxylation. However, OleTJE has superior decarboxylase activity, posing questions about the mechanism of OleTJE. This thesis describes initial structural and biochemical characterisation of OleTJE. These data highlighted three amino acid residues thought to be key for effective catalysis: His85, Phe79 and Arg245. We hypothesised that the active site His85 could act as a proton donor to thereactive ferryl-oxo species compound I, allowing homolytic scission of the substrate C-Calpha bond to form the alkene product. Phe79 sandwiches His85 between the heme, and Arg245 co-ordinates the fatty acid carboxylate moiety. I performed mutagenesis studies to probe the roles of these residues, creating H85Q, F79A, F79W, F79Y, R245L and R245E OleTJE mutants, and characterised them by a combination of spectroscopic, analytical and structural methods. I also developed a novel system, where OleTJE was fused to alditol oxidase (AldO) from Streptomyces coelicolor, creating a fusion protein where addition of glycerol drives hydrogen peroxide production and the decarboxylation of fatty acids. Finally, studies showed that OleTJE is capable of performing secondary oxidation of hydroxylated products, which has expanded our knowledge of OleTJE's catalytic repertoire. This thesis also describes the initial characterisation of the OleTJE orthologue P450 KR from Kocuria rhizophila, which is also a terminal alkene-forming fatty acid decarboxylase. The crystal structure of P450 KR revealed an unusual dimeric state, with structural interactions unprecedented for a P450 enzyme. These data thus provide characterisation of two P450 peroxygenases involved in the production of terminal alkenes and which are of great interest as tools for the development of alternative sources of advanced biofuels.