A single nucleotide polymorphism causes enhanced radical oxygen species production by human aldehyde oxidase

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 27;12(7):e0182061. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182061. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Aldehyde oxidases (AOXs) are molybdo-flavoenzymes characterized by broad substrate specificity, oxidizing aromatic/aliphatic aldehydes into the corresponding carboxylic acids and hydroxylating various heteroaromatic rings. The enzymes use oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor and produce reduced oxygen species during turnover. The physiological function of mammalian AOX isoenzymes is still unclear, however, human AOX (hAOX1) is an emerging enzyme in phase-I drug metabolism. Indeed, the number of xenobiotics acting as hAOX1 substrates is increasing. Further, numerous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified within the hAOX1 gene. SNPs are a major source of inter-individual variability in the human population, and SNP-based amino acid exchanges in hAOX1 reportedly modulate the catalytic function of the enzyme in either a positive or negative fashion. In this report we selected ten novel SNPs resulting in amino acid exchanges in proximity to the FAD site of hAOX1 and characterized the purified enzymes after heterologous expression in Escherichia coli. The hAOX1 variants were characterized carefully by quantitative differences in their ability to produce superoxide radical. ROS represent prominent key molecules in physiological and pathological conditions in the cell. Our data reveal significant alterations in superoxide anion production among the variants. In particular the SNP-based amino acid exchange L438V in proximity to the isoalloxanzine ring of the FAD cofactor resulted in increased rate of superoxide radical production of 75%. Considering the high toxicity of the superoxide in the cell, the hAOX1-L438V SNP variant is an eventual candidate for critical or pathological roles of this natural variant within the human population.

MeSH terms

  • Aldehyde Oxidase / chemistry
  • Aldehyde Oxidase / genetics*
  • Aldehyde Oxidase / isolation & purification
  • Amino Acids / genetics
  • Anaerobiosis
  • Catalytic Domain
  • Coenzymes / metabolism
  • Electron Transport
  • Flavin-Adenine Dinucleotide / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Iron / metabolism
  • Kinetics
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molybdenum / metabolism
  • Mutant Proteins / isolation & purification
  • NAD / metabolism
  • Onium Compounds / metabolism
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics*
  • Protein Multimerization
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism*
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
  • Superoxides / metabolism

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Coenzymes
  • Mutant Proteins
  • Onium Compounds
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • NAD
  • Superoxides
  • Flavin-Adenine Dinucleotide
  • diphenyleneiodonium
  • Molybdenum
  • Iron
  • AOX1 protein, human
  • Aldehyde Oxidase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Grant # Le1171/8. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.