17β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (17β-HSDs) catalyse the conversion of 17β-OH (-hydroxy)/17-oxo groups of steroids, and are essential in mammalian hormone physiology. At present, eleven 17β-HSD isoforms have been defined in mammals, with different tissue-expression and substrate-conversion patterns. We analysed 17β-HSD type 10 (17β-HSD10) from humans and Drosophila, the latter known to be essential in development. In addition to the known hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and 3α-OH and 17β-OH activities with sex steroids, we here demonstrate novel activities of 17β-HSD10. Both species variants oxidize the 20β-OH and 21-OH groups in C21 steroids, and act as 7β-OH dehydrogenases of ursodeoxycholic or isoursodeoxycholic acid (also known as 7β-hydroxylithocholic acid or 7β-hydroxyisolithocholic acid respectively). Additionally, the human orthologue oxidizes the 7α-OH of chenodeoxycholic acid (5β-cholanic acid, 3α,7α-diol) and cholic acid (5β-cholanic acid). These novel substrate specificities are explained by homology models based on the orthologous rat crystal structure, showing a wide hydrophobic cleft, capable of accommodating steroids in different orientations. These properties suggest that the human enzyme is involved in glucocorticoid and gestagen catabolism, and participates in bile acid isomerization. Confocal microscopy and electron microscopy studies reveal that the human form is localized to mitochondria, whereas Drosophila 17β-HSD10 shows a cytosolic localization pattern, possibly due to an N-terminal sequence difference that in human 17β-HSD10 constitutes a mitochondrial targeting signal, extending into the Rossmann-fold motif.
The 7 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.159) gene from Escherichia coli HB101 was cloned and expressed in E. coli DH1. The hybrid plasmid pSD1, with a 2.8-kbp insert of chromosomal DNA at the BamHI site of pBR322, was subcloned into pUC19 to construct plasmid pSD3. The entire nucleotide sequence of an inserted PstI-BamHI fragment of plasmid pSD3 was determined by the dideoxy chain-termination method. Within this sequence, the mature enzyme protein-encoding sequence was found to start at a GTG initiation codon and to comprise 765 bp, as judged by comparison with the protein sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence of the enzyme indicated that the molecular weight is 26,778. The transformant of E. coli DH1 harboring pSD3 with a 1.8-kbp fragment showed about 200-fold-higher enzyme activity than the host. The enzyme was purified by a single chromatography step on DEAE-Toyopearl and obtained as crystals, with an activity yield of 39%. The purified enzyme was homogeneous, as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. The enzyme was most active at pH 8.5 and stable between pH 8 and 9. The enzyme was NAD+ dependent and had a pI of 4.3. The molecular mass was estimated to be 120 kDa by the gel filtration method and 28 kDa by electrophoresis, indicating that the enzyme exists in a tetrameric form.