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| Abstract |
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Morphine is the preferred opioid for the relief of moderate to severe pain.
Conversion to morphine 3- and 6-glucuronides (M3G and M6G, respectively)
accounts for approximately two-thirds of the elimination of a parenteral dose
of morphine in humans (Milne et al.,
1996
). Morphine 3-glucuronidation is the dominant pathway, and
metabolic clearance to M3G is, on average, 5.4-fold higher than metabolic
clearance to M6G. Although the liver appears to be the principal organ
responsible for morphine glucuronidation in vivo, the gastrointestinal tract
may contribute significantly to first-pass extraction after oral
administration (Milne et al.,
1996
). Given the therapeutic importance of morphine and
recognition that M6G also possesses analgesic activity, identification of the
human UGT isoform(s) involved in the formation of the morphine glucuronides
has attracted considerable interest. UGT2B7 has been shown to catalyze the
conversion of morphine to both M3G and M6G and has been proposed as the major
isoform involved in the glucuronidation of morphine in man (Coffman et al.,
1997
,
1998
).
Although morphine is occasionally used as a substrate probe for UGT2B7,
there have been no systematic studies of the UGT isoforms involved in morphine
3- and 6-glucuronidation. Indeed, there is evidence indicating that other
isoforms have the capacity to glucuronidate morphine
(Green et al., 1998
;
Cheng et al., 1999
), and the
apparent biphasic M3G formation kinetics in human liver microsomes
(Miners et al., 1988
) further
suggests that multiple isoforms may catalyze the formation of this metabolite.
We describe studies that aimed to characterize the selectivity and kinetics of
M3G and M6G formation by recombinant human UGTs.
| Materials and Methods |
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Expression of UGTs. UGT 1A1, 1A3, 1A6, 1A8, 1A9, 1A10, 2B4, 2B7,
2B10, and 2B15 were stably expressed in HK293 cells. Cells were transfected
with cDNAs cloned into the pEF-IRES-puro6 expression vector, and microsomes
from cells expressing UGT1A family isoforms were prepared as described
previously (Sorich et al.,
2002
). However, the microsome preparation procedure resulted in
significant loss of activity of UGT2B family isoforms. Thus, cells expressing
UGT 2B4, 2B7, 2B10, and 2B15 were lysed by probe sonication, 3 x 1 s
with cooling on ice for 3 min between pulses, and lysates were stored at
-70°C in phosphate buffer (0.1 M, pH 7.4) until measurement of enzyme
activity.
Measurement of M3G and M6G Formation. Incubations contained morphine
(611 concentrations; see Fig.
1), UDPGA (10 mM), MgCl2 (5 mM), and microsomal or
lysate protein (0.45 mg) in phosphate buffer (0.1 M, pH 7.4) in a total volume
of 0.3 ml. Reactions were initiated by the addition of UDPGA and performed at
37°C for 90 min. Following the addition of perchloric acid (11.6 M, 0.012
ml) and 4MUG (the assay internal standard, 1 pmol), samples were vortex mixed
and then centrifuged (1500g for 10 min). A 0.2-ml aliquot of the
supernatant fraction was added to an Eppendorf tube containing KOH (2 M, 0.012
ml). M3G and M6G concentrations were quantitated using a specific
high-performance liquid chromatographic method with fluorescence detection
(Stone et al., 1998
). Overall
assay imprecision was <10% for substrate concentrations in the range 0.025
to 10 mM.
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Measurement of 4MUG Formation. To confirm expression of individual
UGTs, lysates or microsomes prepared from HK293 cells were tested for
glucuronidation of the nonselective UGT substrate 4MU using a previously
published fluorescence assay (Sorich et
al., 2002
). The 4MU concentrations used were 100 and 1000 µM.
Overall assay imprecision was <3% at these substrate concentrations.
Data Analysis. All data points represent the mean of duplicate
estimations. The kinetic parameters Km and
Vmax were calculated from untransformed data by nonlinear
least-squares regression using GraFit (Erithacus Software, Horley, Surrey,
UK). Data were fitted to the Michaelis-Menten equations for a single- and
two-enzyme model with a weighting of 1/y, and to the two-site model
described by Kenworthy et al.
(2001
).
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and ß are binding factors that reflect
changes in Ks and product formation
(Kp), respectively. Goodness of fit was determined by
comparison of statistical parameters (
2 and Akaike information
criterion values) between the models and a reduction on the standard errors of
the parameter estimates. Kinetic data are reported in
Table 1 as mean ± S.E.
of fit.
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| Results |
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In contrast to the UGT1A family isoforms, M3G formation by UGT2B7 (in cell
lysates) exhibited atypical kinetics (Fig.
1, C and D). (M3G formation kinetics by microsomes prepared from
HK293 cells expressing UGT2B7 also exhibited nonhyperbolic kinetics, but the
lower activity of the microsomal preparation precluded full kinetic
characterization.) Derived kinetic constants from fitting to a biphasic
Michaelis-Menten model are given in Table
1. Apparent Km values for the high- and
low-affinity components were 0.42 and 8.3 mM, respectively.
Vmax values for the high- and low-affinity components
differed 7.8-fold. Derived parameters using the two-site model were:
Ks, 1.76 ± 0.78 mM; Vmax, 109
± 36 pmol/min · mg;
, 3.40 ± 1.07; and ß,
1.97 ± 0.50. UGT2B7 was the only isoform that mediated morphine
6-glucuronidation. M6G formation also exhibited atypical kinetics
(Fig. 1, C and D). Derived
Km values from the biphasic Michaelis-Menten model fit
(Fig. 1C) were 0.97 ±
0.29 mM and 13.7 ± 4.0 mM (Table
1). Parameters generated from the two-site model
(Fig. 1D) were:
Ks, 1.41 ± 0.56 mM; Vmax, 13.9
± 3.8 pmol/min · mg;
, 4.19 ± 1.15; and ß,
2.00 ± 0.42.
| Discussion |
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Of the isoforms capable of metabolizing morphine, UGT 1A1, 1A3, 1A6, 1A9,
and 2B7 are expressed in the liver and may potentially contribute to hepatic
clearance. However, the low affinities of UGT 1A1, 1A6, and 1A9 suggest that
involvement of these isoforms is likely to be minor at best. Expression of UGT
1A8 and 1A10 is limited to the gastrointestinal tract, and UGT 1A1, 1A3, 1A6,
1A9, and 2B7 have also been identified in this tissue
(Tukey and Strassburg, 2000
).
Data reported here are consistent with a contribution of the gastrointestinal
tract to the first-pass extraction of morphine
(Milne et al., 1996
).
The kinetics of M3G and M6G formation by UGT2B7 were adequately described
by either a biphasic Michaelis-Menten model or a two-site model based on the
simultaneous binding of two substrate molecules at identical sites. Both
approaches have been adopted previously to analyze the biphasic kinetic
behavior of certain reactions catalyzed by recombinant cytochromes P450
(Houston and Kenworthy, 2000
;
Hutzler and Tracy, 2002
). The
values for
derived for the two-site model were both >1, indicating
the decreased binding affinity of a second substrate molecule in the presence
of the first at the active site (negative cooperativity)
(Houston and Kenworthy, 2000
).
The equivalence of the two binding sites is indicated by similar binding
affinities (Ks) of M3G and M6G for the active site. The
factor ß reflects changes in the effective catalytic rate constant
(Kp) as the result of an interaction between the two
occupied sites. Whenever the equivalence of two substrate binding sites is
assumed, the value of ß is 2 (Vmax is equivalent to
2Kp[E]t, where [E]t is the total
enzyme concentration), which was observed for both M3G and M6G formation.
Although atypical kinetics have been described for drug metabolism by
recombinant cytochromes P450 (Shou et al.,
2001
; Galetin et al.,
2002
; Hutzler and Tracy,
2002
), the phenomenon of negative cooperativity has been rarely
observed for either substrate kinetics or the effect of a modifier. Previous
studies of morphine glucuronidation by UGT2B7 have not alluded to biphasic
kinetics. Apparent Km values reported previously for M3G
and M6G formation ranged from 0.47 to 1.0 mM and 0.55 to 1.3 mM, respectively
(Coffman et al., 1997
,
1998
).
This report provides confirmation of atypical kinetic properties of human UGTs. Using UGT2B7, evidence of negative cooperativity is presented, consistent with multisite interactions between morphine and this enzyme. The two-site model provides more realistic insight to the interactions of morphine at the UGT2B7 active site than the biphasic Michaelis-Menten model, although both generate reasonable fit. Studies with UGTs require careful design and detailed experimentation to delineate kinetic properties.
Andrew N. Stone
Peter I. Mackenzie
Aleksandra Galetin
J. Brian Houston
John O. Miners
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia (A.N.S., P.I.M., J.O.M.); and School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom (A.G., J.B.H.)
| Footnotes |
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1 Abbreviations used are: UGT, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase; UDPGA,
UDP-glucuronic acid; M3G, morphine 3-glucuronide; M6G, morphine 6-glucuronide;
4MU, 4-methylumbelliferone; 4MUG, 4MU-ß-D-glucuronide. ![]()
Address correspondence to: Professor John O. Miners, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia. E-mail: john.miners{at}flinders.edu.au
| References |
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