Presenting Author University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Cytochrome P450 (CYP or P450) enzymes are known for their role in detoxifying xenobiotics and may at times cause toxicity. CYP1A1gene polymorphisms have been linked to susceptibility risks of various cancers and neoplasms, including bladder cancer. The aim of the study was to use bioinformatics tools to examine structural differences in CYP1A1 wild type and isoforms 2 and 3. Protein sequences of selected CYPs were retrieved from the NCBI protein databank and GenPept. Sequence homologies were searched for by BLAST, and by multiple sequence alignments. Protein structural characteristics such as ligand binding and secondary structure prediction were analyzed by Phyre. The CYPIA1 wild type and isoforms had 33 % variation in their amino acid residues and binding sites. The predicted binding sites for the first 6 amino acid residues were similar between the wild type and isoform two; however, the average distances from the ligands differed. The predicted secondary structure of the CYP1A1 isoform 3 exhibited the widest difference from the wild type in the percentage of disordered helix (17%), alpha helix (66%), beta strand (3%) and trans-membrane domains (12%). Differences in nucleotide sequence between the CYP1A1 wild type and isoforms caused a change in the protein structure which further altered the trans-membrane topology and ligand binding potential of the protein. These findings indicate structural deficits among the three Cytochrome P450 isoforms, suggesting the possible conferment of risks to toxicity and associated diseases.