Substrate Report for: Trans-8-ethylstyrene-7,8-oxide

A new microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH2) has been identified and characterized. This enzyme has properties which distinguish it from previously described cytosolic (cEH) or membrane-bound (mEH1) epoxide hydrolases. The enzyme is an integral microsomal protein which is not dissociated from the membrane by repeated washing, high ionic strength salt, or chaotropic agent solutions, or by sonication. It is very different from the normally described microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH1) as shown by its different substrate specificity and kinetic properties and by immunological criteria. In contrast to the hitherto described microsomal epoxide hydrolase, mEH1, the new enzyme effectively catalyzes the hydration of transdisubstituted oxiranes such as trans-stilbene oxide and trans-beta-ethyl styrene oxide and has no appreciable activity toward benzo(a)pyrene 4,5-oxide. It is also structurally distinct, in that it does not cross-react with antibodies raised against the normally described microsomal epoxide hydrolase mEH1. This newly described microsomal epoxide hydrolase probably represents an important factor in the control of reactive epoxides; its location in the membrane ensures access to lipophilic epoxides generated by membrane-bound monooxygenases, and its substrate specificity is such that it can hydrolyze epoxides poorly metabolized by the previously described microsomal epoxide hydrolase.

Epoxide hydrolase (EC 3.3.2.3) was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from human liver cytosol by using hydrolytic activity toward trans-8-ethylstyrene 7,8-oxide (TESO) as an assay. The overall purification was 400-fold. The purified enzyme has an apparent monomeric molecular weight of 58 000, significantly greater than the 50 000 found for human (or rat) liver microsomal epoxide hydrolase or for another TESO-hydrolyzing enzyme also isolated from human liver cytosol. Purified cytosolic TESO hydrolase catalyzes the hydrolysis of cis-8-ethylstyrene 7,8-oxide 10 times more rapidly than does the microsomal enzyme, catalyzes the hydrolysis of TESO and trans-stilbene oxide as rapidly as the microsomal enzyme, but catalyzes the hydrolysis of styrene 7,8-oxide, p-nitrostyrene 7,8-oxide, and naphthalene 1,2-oxide much less effectively than does the microsomal enzyme. Purified cytosolic TESO hydrolase does not hydrolyze benzo[a]pyrene 4,5-oxide, a substrate for the microsomal enzyme. The activities of the purified enzymes can explain the specific activities observed with subcellular fractions. Anti-human liver microsomal epoxide hydrolase did not recognize cytosolic TESO hydrolase in purified form or in cytosol, as judged by double-diffusion immunoprecipitin analysis, precipitation of enzymatic activity, and immunoelectrophoretic techniques. Cytosolic TESO hydrolase and microsomal epoxide hydrolase were also distinguished by peptide mapping. The results provide evidence that physically different forms of epoxide hydrolase exist in different subcellular fractions and can have markedly different substrate specificities.

The intense interest in the metabolic fate of epoxidized xenobiotics is due to several factors. For instance, epoxides are often intermediates in the lipophile to hydrophile conversions necessary for the excretion of olefinic and aromatic compounds by living systems, and are widely encountered in man's diet from both natural and man-made sources. Some of these epoxidized compounds may alkylate proteins and nucleic acids and thus include some of the most potent cytotoxins, mutagens and carcinogens known. In mammals, epoxides may rearrange, deoxygenate to olefins, react with glutathione to form conjugates, or be hydrolysed by water to yield 1,2-diols with or without enzymatic catalysis. The enzymes which catalyse the formation of diols are known as epoxide hydrolases (EC 3.3.2.3), and their subcellular distribution is the subject of this report. Early data showed that styrene oxide hydrolase activity was associate with the microsomal subcellular fraction. Epoxide hydrolase activity was subsequently demonstrated on the nuclear, Golgi apparatus and plasma membranes, and in the cytosol of the cell, leaving the mitochondria as the last major cellular organelle assumed to be devoid of epoxide hydrolase activity. We now report strong evidence for the occurrence of substantial epoxide hydrolase activity in the mitochondria.

The cytosolic epoxide hydrolase (EH-LC) was observed in rhesus monkey liver cytosol, and in both normal and neoplastic human liver. Microsomal epoxide hydrolase (EH-LM) was detected not only in the microsomes of normal and neoplastic human liver and normal rhesus monkey liver, but also in the cytosol of these tissues. No apparent differences were observed between the EH-LM in liver cytosol and that in microsomes. No major differences were observed between the levels of EH-LM in the cytosol of normal and that in neoplastic human liver.

A new microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH2) has been identified and characterized. This enzyme has properties which distinguish it from previously described cytosolic (cEH) or membrane-bound (mEH1) epoxide hydrolases. The enzyme is an integral microsomal protein which is not dissociated from the membrane by repeated washing, high ionic strength salt, or chaotropic agent solutions, or by sonication. It is very different from the normally described microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH1) as shown by its different substrate specificity and kinetic properties and by immunological criteria. In contrast to the hitherto described microsomal epoxide hydrolase, mEH1, the new enzyme effectively catalyzes the hydration of transdisubstituted oxiranes such as trans-stilbene oxide and trans-beta-ethyl styrene oxide and has no appreciable activity toward benzo(a)pyrene 4,5-oxide. It is also structurally distinct, in that it does not cross-react with antibodies raised against the normally described microsomal epoxide hydrolase mEH1. This newly described microsomal epoxide hydrolase probably represents an important factor in the control of reactive epoxides; its location in the membrane ensures access to lipophilic epoxides generated by membrane-bound monooxygenases, and its substrate specificity is such that it can hydrolyze epoxides poorly metabolized by the previously described microsomal epoxide hydrolase.

Epoxide hydrolase (EC 3.3.2.3) was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from human liver cytosol by using hydrolytic activity toward trans-8-ethylstyrene 7,8-oxide (TESO) as an assay. The overall purification was 400-fold. The purified enzyme has an apparent monomeric molecular weight of 58 000, significantly greater than the 50 000 found for human (or rat) liver microsomal epoxide hydrolase or for another TESO-hydrolyzing enzyme also isolated from human liver cytosol. Purified cytosolic TESO hydrolase catalyzes the hydrolysis of cis-8-ethylstyrene 7,8-oxide 10 times more rapidly than does the microsomal enzyme, catalyzes the hydrolysis of TESO and trans-stilbene oxide as rapidly as the microsomal enzyme, but catalyzes the hydrolysis of styrene 7,8-oxide, p-nitrostyrene 7,8-oxide, and naphthalene 1,2-oxide much less effectively than does the microsomal enzyme. Purified cytosolic TESO hydrolase does not hydrolyze benzo[a]pyrene 4,5-oxide, a substrate for the microsomal enzyme. The activities of the purified enzymes can explain the specific activities observed with subcellular fractions. Anti-human liver microsomal epoxide hydrolase did not recognize cytosolic TESO hydrolase in purified form or in cytosol, as judged by double-diffusion immunoprecipitin analysis, precipitation of enzymatic activity, and immunoelectrophoretic techniques. Cytosolic TESO hydrolase and microsomal epoxide hydrolase were also distinguished by peptide mapping. The results provide evidence that physically different forms of epoxide hydrolase exist in different subcellular fractions and can have markedly different substrate specificities.

The intense interest in the metabolic fate of epoxidized xenobiotics is due to several factors. For instance, epoxides are often intermediates in the lipophile to hydrophile conversions necessary for the excretion of olefinic and aromatic compounds by living systems, and are widely encountered in man's diet from both natural and man-made sources. Some of these epoxidized compounds may alkylate proteins and nucleic acids and thus include some of the most potent cytotoxins, mutagens and carcinogens known. In mammals, epoxides may rearrange, deoxygenate to olefins, react with glutathione to form conjugates, or be hydrolysed by water to yield 1,2-diols with or without enzymatic catalysis. The enzymes which catalyse the formation of diols are known as epoxide hydrolases (EC 3.3.2.3), and their subcellular distribution is the subject of this report. Early data showed that styrene oxide hydrolase activity was associate with the microsomal subcellular fraction. Epoxide hydrolase activity was subsequently demonstrated on the nuclear, Golgi apparatus and plasma membranes, and in the cytosol of the cell, leaving the mitochondria as the last major cellular organelle assumed to be devoid of epoxide hydrolase activity. We now report strong evidence for the occurrence of substantial epoxide hydrolase activity in the mitochondria.