TY - JOUR T1 - The Effect of Allelic Variation in Aldo-Keto Reductase 1C2 on the in Vitro Metabolism of Dihydrotestosterone JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 1032 LP - 1039 DO - 10.1124/jpet.109.150995 VL - 329 IS - 3 AU - Ryan H. Takahashi AU - Thomas A. Grigliatti AU - Ronald E. Reid AU - K. Wayne Riggs Y1 - 2009/06/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/329/3/1032.abstract N2 - Aldo-keto reductase (AKR) 1C2 is a human, cytosolic enzyme that has an important role in the deactivation of the potent androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT). AKR1C2 can regulate the extent and duration of activation of the androgen receptor by catalyzing the reduction of DHT to the less potent receptor ligand 3α-diol. In this study, we functionally characterize in vitro the effect of 11 naturally occurring nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms on the ability of AKR1C2 to reduce DHT to 3α-diol. The wild-type and variant enzymes were expressed using a transfected insect cell system, and their kinetic activities were measured using both a specific fluorogenic probe and DHT as substrates. This functional characterization demonstrates that several variant AKR1C2 proteins have significantly reduced or altered reductase activities as shown by their measured kinetic parameters. Data from our two separate in vitro studies revealed significant reductions in Vmax for two variants (F46Y and L172Q) and significantly lower apparent Km values for three variants (L172Q, K185E, and R258C) compared with the wild type. These results provide evidence that several naturally occurring nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in AKR1C2 result in reduced enzyme activities. These variant AKR1C2 alleles may represent one factor involved in the variable degradation of DHT in vivo. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -