Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are potent carcinogens and are a primary risk factor for the development of lung and other aerodigestive tract cancers in smokers. The detoxification of PAHs by glucuronidation is well-characterized for the UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) 1A, 2A, and 2B subfamilies; however, the role of the UGT3A subfamily in PAH metabolism remains poorly understood. UGT3A enzymes are functionally distinct from other UGT subfamilies (which use UDP-glucuronic acid as a cosubstrate) due to their utilization of alternative cosubstrates (UDP- N -acetylglucosamine for UGT3A1, and UDP-glucose and UDP-xylose for UGT3A2). The goal of the present study was to characterize UGT3A glycosylation activity against PAHs and examine their expression in human aerodigestive tract tissues. In vitro metabolism assays using UGT3A2-overexpressing cell microsomes indicated that UGT3A2 exhibits glycosylation activity against all of the simple and complex PAHs tested. The V max/ K m ratios for UGT3A2 activity with UDP-xylose versus UDP-glucose as the cosubstrate ranged from 0.65 to 4.4 for all PAHs tested, demonstrating that PAH glycosylation may be occurring at rates up to 4.4-fold higher with UDP-xylose than with UDP-glucose. Limited glycosylation activity was observed against PAHs with UGT3A1-overexpressing cell microsomes. While UGT3A2 exhibited low levels of hepatic expression, it was shown by western blot analysis to be widely expressed in aerodigestive tract tissues. Conversely, UGT3A1 exhibited the highest expression in liver with lower expression in aerodigestive tract tissues. These data suggest that UGT3A2 plays an important role in the detoxification of PAHs in aerodigestive tract tissues, and that there may be cosubstrate-dependent differences in the detoxification of PAHs by UGT3A2. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT UGT3A2 is highly active against PAHs with either UDP-glucose or UDP-xylose as a cosubstrate. UGT3A1 exhibited low levels of activity against PAHs. UGT3A1 is highly expressed in liver while UGT3A2 is well expressed in extrahepatic tissues. UGT3A2 may be an important detoxifier of PAHs in humans.
多环
芳烃(PAHs)是强致癌物, 是吸烟者发生肺癌及口、咽等上呼吸道和上消化道癌症的首要风险因素。PAHs通过
葡萄糖醛酸化反应解毒已在
尿苷二
磷酸葡糖基转移酶(
UDP-glycosyltransferase, UGT)1A、2A和2B亚家族中得到充分阐释, 但UGT3A亚家族在PAH代谢中的作用至今仍未明了。UGT3A酶在功能上与其他亚家族截然不同, 它具有各自的供体底物:对UGT3A1而言是
尿苷二
磷酸N-乙酰
葡糖胺, 而对于UGT3A2则是
尿苷二
磷酸葡萄糖与
尿苷二
磷酸木糖。本研究的目的是阐释UGT3A对PAHs的糖基化作用活性, 以及它在人上呼吸道和上消化道组织中的表达。通过UGT3A2过表达细胞微粒体进行的体外代谢实验表明UGT3A2对检测的所有单环和多环PAHs均有糖基化作用活性。以
尿苷二
磷酸木糖和
尿苷二
磷酸葡萄糖为供体底物的UGT3A2活性所表现出的V max/K m比率在0.65~4.4之间, 证明PAHs通过UGT3A2进行糖基化反应时, 与底物
尿苷二
磷酸葡萄糖相比, 底物
尿苷二
磷酸木糖可提速至4.4倍。UGT3A1过表达细胞微粒体表现出的对PAHs的糖基化作用活性较低。UGT3A2在肝脏中的表达
水平偏低, 但通过Western blot分析可知上呼吸道和上消化道组织中的表达
水平广泛。相反, UGT3A1则呈现出最高的肝表达量和较低的上呼吸道和上消化道组织表达量。这些数据表明, UGT3A2在上呼吸道和上消化道组织中对PAHs的解毒起着重要作用, 而且PAHs通过UGT3A2的解毒作用可能因供体底物的不同而存在差异。
[论著意义]UGT3A2对PAHs的活性较强, 供体底物为
尿苷二
磷酸葡萄糖或
尿苷二
磷酸木糖。UGT3A1对PAHs只表现出低
水平活性。UGT3A1高度表达于肝脏, 而UGT3A2则高度表达于肝外组织。UGT3A2可能是人体内对PAHs的重要解毒酶。