Abstract

Levels and catalytic activities of cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes involved in the oxidation of drugs and carcinogens were determined in human adult lungs and fetal livers and compared with those in microsomes from adult livers. P450s immunoreactive with anti-human P4501A1 and anti-human P4503A antibodies were detected in fetal liver microsomes by immunoblotting analysis, and P450s related P4501A1, 2A6, 2C9, 2E1, and 3A4 were determined in adult lung microsomes; all of these P450 enzymes were detected in much higher amounts in adult liver microsomes except that P4501A2 was only the 1A subfamily of P450 found in adult livers. Drug oxidation activities with the substrates ethoxyresorufin, coumarin, 7-ethoxycoumarin, bufuralol, and testosterone were determined in these microsomes, and we found that none of the activities were higher in microsomes of adult lungs and fetal livers than in adult livers. Activation of procarcinogens to reactive metabolites that induce umu gene expression in Salmonella typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002 or NM2009 was also examined and it was found that activities with (+)- and (-)-enantiomers of 7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene were higher in fetal liver microsomes than adult lung or liver microsomes. The adult liver and lung activities for these two procarcinogens were similar on the basis of microsomal protein contents despite the fact that p450 contents are higher in liver than lung microsomes. alpha-Naphthoflavone, a known inhibitor of P4501A-related activities, did not affect these procarcinogen activation in fetal liver microsomes. Fetal liver microsomes catalyzed activation of aflatoxin B1 and sterigmatocystin, two procarcinogens known to be activated by P4503A4/7 in humans, although activation of carcinogenic arylamines that are good substrates for P4501A2 was much lower in microsomes of fetal livers and adult lungs than in adult livers. These results suggest that in human fetal livers at least two P450 enzymes, a form of P450 that is immunoreactive P4501A1 and P4503A7, are actually expressed and these enzymes are suggested as being involved in the activation of the (+)- and (-)-enantiomers of 7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene and the carcinogenic mycotoxins, respectively. The exact nature of the former enzyme in fetal livers is unknown. In adult human lungs, several P450 enzymes are expressed, although the precise roles of these enzymes in the oxidation of xenobiotics were not determined due to the low level of expression of these P450s.