Enzymes of steroid metabolism in liver and other organs
Regulation of liver-specific steroid metabolizing cytochromes P450: Cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase, bile acid 6β-hydroxylase, and growth hormone-responsive steroid hormone hydroxylases

https://doi.org/10.1016/0960-0760(92)90333-EGet rights and content

Abstract

The hydroxylation of cholesterol, bile acids, and steroid hormones by liver cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes proceeds with a high degree of regiospecificity, and contributes to both biosynthetic and catabolic pathways of sterol metabolism. CYP 7-catalyzed cholesterol 7α-hydroxylation, a key control point of bile acid biosynthesis, is regulated at a pretranslational step, probably transcription initiation, by multiple factors, including liver bile acid and cholesterol levels, thyroid hormone status, and diurnal rhythm. Hydrophobic bile acids, such as lithocholic acid, are converted to less cholestatic derivatives by 6β-hydroxylation carried out by CYP 3A P450s, which also catalyze steroid hormone 6β-hydroxylation reactions. Complex, gender-dependent developmental patterns characterize the expression of steroid 5α-reductase and several rat liver steroid hydroxylase CYPs. Multiple pituitary-dependent factors regulate the expression of these enzymes; of greatest importance are the gonadal steroids and the sex-dependent secretory patterns of growth hormone (GH) that they impart. The continuous presence of GH in circulation, a characteristic of adult female rats, positively regulates expression of the female-specific steroid disulfate 15β-hydroxylase CYP 2C12, while expression of the male-specific steroid 16α- and 2α-hydroxylase CYP 2C11 is stimulated by the intermittent pituitary secretion of GH that occurs in adult male rats. Intermittent GH can stimulate CYP 2C11 gene expression even when the hormone presents to the hepatocyte at a non-physiological pulse amplitude, duration, and frequency, provided that an interpulse interval of no GH (obligatory recovery period) is maintained for at least 2.5 h. GH regulates the expression of the CYP 2C11 and CYP 2C12 genes at the level of transcription initiation. This process is probably mediated by sex-dependent and GH-regulated protein-DNA interactions, such as those observed in the 5′-flank of the CYP 2C12 gene. Thyroid hormone is a second major regulator of liver steroid hydroxylase P450 activity. It regulates these enzymes directly, at a pretranslational step, and indirectly, through its stimulation of pituitary GH secretion and by its positive effects on the expression of the flavoenzyme NADPH-P450 reductase, which catalyzes electron transfer that is obligatory for all microsomal steroid hydroxylation reactions.

References (127)

  • S. Shefer et al.

    Regulation of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase by hepatic 7alpha-hydroxylated bile acid flux and newly synthesized cholesterol supply

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1991)
  • W.M. Pandak et al.

    Regulation of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase mRNA and transcriptional activity by taurocholate and cholesterol in the chronic biliary diverted rat

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1991)
  • K.A. Mitropoulos et al.

    On the mechanism of regulation of HMG-CoA reductase, of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase and of acyl coenzyme A: cholesterol acyl transferase by free cholesterase

    Biochim. Biophys. Acta

    (1978)
  • G.C. Ness et al.

    Effect of thyroid hormone on hepatic cholesterol 7alpha hydroxylase, LDL receptor, HMG-CoA reductase, farnesyl pyrophosphate synthetase and apolipoprotein A-I mRNA levels in hypophysectomized rats

    Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.

    (1990)
  • S. Shefer et al.

    Regulation of bile acid synthesis. Measurement of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase activity in rat liver microsomal preparations in the absence of endogenous cholesterol

    J. Lipid Res.

    (1981)
  • R.A. Davis et al.

    Bile acid synthesis by cultured hepatocytes. Inhibition by mevinolin, but not by bile acids

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1983)
  • E.J. Holsztynska et al.

    Cytochrome P-450 cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase: inhibition of enzyme deactivation by structurally diverse calmodulin antagonists and phosphatase inhibitors

    Archs Biochem. Biophys.

    (1987)
  • J. Kwekkeboom et al.

    Feedback inhibition of bile acid synthesis in cultured pig hepatocytes

    Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.

    (1988)
  • R.A. Davis et al.

    Examination of bile acid negative feedback regulation in rats

    J. Lipid Res.

    (1988)
  • J.C. Mittler

    Studies on the kinetics of the interaction of 7alpha-hydroxy-testosterone with the steroid 5 alpha-reductase

    Steroids

    (1985)
  • D.E. Ryan et al.

    Purification and characterization of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450

    Pharmac. Ther.

    (1990)
  • D.J. Waxman

    Interactions of hepatic cytochromes P-450 with steroid hormones. Regioselectivity and stereospecificity of steroid hydroxylation and hormonal regulation of rat P-450 enzyme expression

    Biochem. Pharmac.

    (1988)
  • D.J. Waxman

    Rat hepatic P450IIA and P450IIC subfamily expression using catalytic, immunochemical and molecular probes

    Meth. Enzym.

    (1991)
  • D.J. Waxman et al.

    Human liver microsomal steroid metabolism. Identification of the major microsomal steroid hormone 6beta-hydroxylase cytochrome P-450 enzyme

    Archs Biochem. Biophys.

    (1988)
  • M. Negishi et al.

    Alteration of the substrate specificity of mouse 2A P450s by the identity of residue-209: steroid-binding site and orientation

    J. Steroid Biochem. Molec. Biol.

    (1992)
  • P. Zimniak et al.

    The detoxification of lithocholic acid. Elucidation of the pathways of oxidative metabolism in rat liver microsomes

    J. Lipid Res.

    (1989)
  • E.T. Morgan et al.

    Hormonal and developmental regulation of expression of the hepatic microsomal steroid 16alpha-hydroxylase cytochrome P-450 apoprotein in the rat

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1985)
  • S. Bandiera et al.

    Age- and sex-related expression of cytochromes P-450f and P-450g in rat liver

    Archs Biochem. Biophys.

    (1986)
  • M. Shimada et al.

    Further studies on the persistence of neonatal androgen imprinting on sex-specific cytochrome P-450, testosterone and drug oxidations

    Jap. J. Pharmac.

    (1987)
  • H. Sasamura et al.

    Effect of growth hormone on rat hepatic cytochrome P-450f mRNA: a new mode of regulation

    Molec. Cell. Endocr.

    (1990)
  • S.S. Sundseth et al.

    Sex-dependent expression and clofibrate inducibility of cytochrome fatty acid w-hydroxylases: Male-specificity of liver and kidney CYP4A2 mRNA and tissue-specific regulation by growth hormone and testosterone

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1992)
  • Y. Yamazoe et al.

    Suppression of levels of phenobarbital-inducible rat liver cytochrome P-450 by pituitary hormone

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1987)
  • E.G. Schuetz et al.

    Regulation of cytochrome P-450/e and P-450p gene expression by growth hormone in adult rat hepatocytes cultured on a reconstituted basement membrane

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1990)
  • P. Roupas et al.

    Cellular mechanisms in the processing of growth hormone and its receptor

    Molec. Cell. Endocr.

    (1989)
  • S. Westin et al.

    The role and mechanism of growth hormone in the regulation of sexually dimorphic P450 enzymes in rat liver

    J. Steroid Biochem. Molec. Biol.

    (1992)
  • A. Ullrich et al.

    Signal transduction by receptors with tyrosine kinase activity

    Cell

    (1990)
  • D.W. Nebert et al.

    The P450 superfamily: update on new sequences, gene mapping, and recomeended nomenclature

    DNA Cell. Biol.

    (1991)
  • H. Danielsson et al.

    Bile acid metabolism

    A. Rev. Biochem.

    (1975)
  • R. Fears et al.

    Cholesterol 7 Alpha-Hydroxylase (7 Alpha-Monooxygenase)

    CRC Series Enzyme Biology

    (1986)
  • Z.R. Vlahcevic et al.

    Regulation of bile acid synthesis

    Hepatology

    (1991)
  • Y.C. Li et al.

    Regulation of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase in the liver. Cloning, sequencing, and regulation of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase mRNA

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1990)
  • D.F. Jelinek et al.

    Structure of the rat gene encoding cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase

    Biochemistry

    (1990)
  • S.S. Sundseth et al.

    Hepatic P-450 cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase. Regulation in vivo at the protein and mRNA level in response to mevalonate, diurnal rhythm and bile acid feedback

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1990)
  • M. Noshiro et al.

    Rat liver cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase. Pretranslational regulation for circadian rhythm

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1990)
  • T.J. Scallen et al.

    Regulation of three key enzymes in cholesterol metabolism by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation

  • J.L. Goldstein et al.

    Regulation of the mevalonate pathway

    Nature

    (1990)
  • W.M. Kubaska et al.

    Absence of negative feedback control of bile acid biosynthesis in cultured rat hepatocytes

    J. Biol. Chem.

    (1985)
  • S. Dueland et al.

    Regulation of cholesterol and bile acid homeostatis in bile-obstructed rats

    Biochem. J.

    (1991)
  • R. Hall et al.

    Bile acid synthesis: down-regulation by monohydroxy bile acids

    FASEB J.

    (1988)
  • D.T. Molowa et al.

    Transcriptional regulation of the human cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase gene

    Biochemistry

    (1992)
  • Cited by (91)

    • The isoflavones genistein and daidzein increase hepatic concentration of thyroid hormones and affect cholesterol metabolism in middle-aged male rats

      2019, Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Next, we supposed that an elevated hepatic T3 concentration might potentiate cholesterol degradation to bile acids in the liver. Our assumption was supported by the fact that T3, among several other factors, up-regulates transcription of the P450 enzyme cholesterol 7 α-hydroxylase (Cyp7a1) gene in rats and humans [44,45]. This is the rate-limiting enzyme in the main neutral pathway for elimination of cholesterol from the liver [46].

    • Ordered chimerogenesis applied to CYP2B P450 enzymes

      2016, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - General Subjects
      Citation Excerpt :

      In animals, microsomal cytochromes P450 (P450s) play a major role in the oxidative metabolism not only of xenobiotics (drugs, environmental pollutants, and phytochemicals) [1–3] but also of endogenous compounds such as steroids and eicosanoids [4].

    • Extra-hepatic metabolism of 7-ketocholesterol occurs by esterification to fatty acids via cPLA2α and SOAT1 followed by selective efflux to HDL

      2015, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids
      Citation Excerpt :

      As mentioned above, previous studies have shown that CYP7A1 [8,21], CYP27A1 (11), and SULT2B1b [18,19] are capable of metabolizing 7KCh. As previously reported [21] CYP7A1 is liver specific (Fig. 1A). CYP7B1 is broadly expressed [14] but at relatively low levels in all of the tissues tested (Fig. 1B).

    • Sexual Differentiation of Brain and Behavior

      2015, Knobil and Neill's Physiology of Reproduction: Two-Volume Set
    • Characterization of hepatic sexual dimorphism in Alb-DsRed2 transgenic rats

      2009, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text