PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Catherine K. Yeung AU - Dieter H. Lang AU - Kenneth E. Thummel AU - Allan E. Rettie TI - Immunoquantitation of FMO1 in Human Liver, Kidney, and Intestine DP - 2000 Sep 01 TA - Drug Metabolism and Disposition PG - 1107--1111 VI - 28 IP - 9 4099 - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/28/9/1107.short 4100 - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/28/9/1107.full SO - Drug Metab Dispos2000 Sep 01; 28 AB - To determine the level of FMO1 protein present in human liver tissues, a monospecific antibody was prepared and a sensitive Western blotting procedure with enhanced chemiluminescence detection was developed. Human FMO1, purified from insect cells expressing the recombinant protein, was used as a protein standard for absolute quantification. The average concentrations of FMO1 in microsomes prepared from human liver, kidney, intestine, and fetal liver were found to be <1, 47 ± 9, 2.9 ± 1.9, and 14.4 ± 3.5 pmol/mg, respectively. Quantitation in intestinal microsomes was complicated by variable degrees of proteolytic degradation of FMO1, not seen in microsomes prepared from liver or kidney. Recombinant human FMO1 and detergent-solubilized human duodenal microsomes both metabolized p-tolyl methyl sulfide stereoselectively to the (R)-sulfoxide, indicating the expression of functional FMO1 in human intestine. The relatively high levels of immunoquantifiable FMO1 in human kidney and fetal liver complement our previous catalytic studies in these tissues, which also demonstrated preferential (R)-p-tolyl methyl sulfoxide formation. These data demonstrate a profound ontogenic change in expression of hepatic FMO1 in humans, such that in adult life FMO1 is exclusively an extrahepatic drug-metabolizing enzyme. The marked expression levels of FMO1 found in human kidney coupled to the high catalytic activity of this isoform toward a diverse array of sulfides and tertiary amines suggest the possibility that human renal FMO1 is a significant contributor to the metabolic clearance of drugs and other xenobiotics bearing these functionalities. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics