Mechanisms of Herb-Drug Interactions Involving Cinnamon and CYP2A6: Focus on Time-Dependent Inhibition by Cinnamaldehyde and 2-Methoxycinnamaldehyde.

Information is scarce regarding pharmacokinetic-based herb-drug interactions (HDI) with trans-cinnamaldehyde (CA) and 2-methoxycinnamaldehyde (MCA), components of cinnamon. Given the presence of cinnamon in food and herbal treatments for various diseases, HDIs involving the CYP2A6 substrates nicotine and letrozole with MCA (KS = 1.58 µM; Hill slope = 1.16) and CA were investigated. The time-dependent inhibition (TDI) by MCA and CA of CYP2A6-mediated nicotine metabolism is a complex process involving multiple mechanisms. Molecular dynamic simulations showed that CYP2A6's active site accommodates two dynamic ligands. The preferred binding orientations for MCA and CA were consistent with the observed metabolism: epoxidation, O-demethylation, and aromatic hydroxylation of MCA and cinnamic acid formation from CA. The percent remaining activity plots for TDI by MCA and CA were curved, and they were analyzed with a numerical method using models of varying complexity. The best-fit models support multiple inactivator binding, inhibitor depletion, and partial inactivation. Deconvoluted mass spectra indicated that MCA and CA modified CYP2A6 apoprotein with mass additions of 156.79 (142.54-171.04) and 132.67 (123.37-141.98), respectively, and it was unaffected by glutathione. Heme degradation was observed in the presence of MCA (48.5% ± 13.4% loss; detected by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry). In the absence of clinical data, HDI predictions were made for nicotine and letrozole using inhibition parameters from the best-fit TDI models and parameters scaled from rats. Predicted area under the concentration-time curve fold changes were 4.29 (CA-nicotine), 4.92 (CA-letrozole), 4.35 (MCA-nicotine), and 5.00 (MCA-letrozole). These findings suggest that extensive exposure to cinnamon (corresponding to ≈ 275 mg CA) would lead to noteworthy interactions. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Human exposure to cinnamon is common because of its presence in food and cinnamon-based herbal treatments. Little is known about the risk for cinnamaldehyde and methoxycinnamaldehyde, two components of cinnamon, to interact with drugs that are eliminated by CYP2A6-mediated metabolism. The interactions with CYP2A6 are complex, involving multiple-ligand binding, time-dependent inhibition of nicotine metabolism, heme degradation, and apoprotein modification. An herb-drug interaction prediction suggests that extensive exposure to cinnamon would lead to noteworthy interactions with nicotine.

Anaerobic purification, characterization and preliminary mechanistic study of recombinant nitrous oxide reductase from Achromobacter cycloclastes.

An overexpression system for nitrous oxide reductase (N(2)OR), an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of N(2)O to N(2) and H(2)O, has been developed in Achromobacter cycloclastes. Anaerobically purified A. cycloclastes recombinant N(2)OR (AcN(2)OR) has on average 4.5 Cu and 1.2 S per monomer. Upon reduction by methyl viologen, AcN(2)OR displays a high specific activity: 124 U/mg at 25 degrees C. Anaerobically purified AcN(2)OR displays a unique absorption spectrum. UV-visible and EPR spectra, combined with kinetics studies, indicate that the as-purified form of the enzyme is predominately a mixture of the fully-reduced Cu(Z)=[4Cu(I)] state and the Cu(Z)=[3Cu(I).Cu(II)] state, with the latter readily reducible by reduced forms of viologens. CD spectra of the as-purified AcN(2)OR over a range of pH values reveal perturbations of the protein conformation induced by pH variations, although the principal secondary structure elements are largely unaltered. Further, the activity of AcN(2)OR in D(2)O is significantly decreased compared with that in H(2)O, indicative of a significant solvent isotope effect on N(2)O reduction. These data are in good agreement with conclusions reached in recent studies on the effect of pH on catalysis by N(2)OR [K. Fujita, D.M. Dooley, Inorg. Chem. 46 (2007) 613-615].

Spectroscopic, computational, and kinetic studies of the mu4-sulfide-bridged tetranuclear CuZ cluster in N2O reductase: pH effect on the edge ligand and its contribution to reactivity.

A combination of spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations has been used to evaluate the pH effect at the CuZ site in Pseudomonas nautica (Pn) nitrous oxide reductase (N2OR) and Achromobacter cycloclastes (Ac) N2OR and its relevance to catalysis. Absorption, magnetic circular dichroism, and electron paramagnetic resonance with sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption spectra of the enzymes at high and low pH show minor changes. However, resonance Raman (rR) spectroscopy of PnN2OR at high pH shows that the 415 cm-1 Cu-S vibration (observed at low pH) shifts to higher frequency, loses intensity, and obtains a 9 cm-1 18O shift, implying significant Cu-O character, demonstrating the presence of a OH- ligand at the CuICuIV edge. From DFT calculations, protonation of either the OH- to H2O or the mu4-S2- to mu4-SH- would produce large spectral changes which are not observed. Alternatively, DFT calculations including a lysine residue at an H-bonding distance from the CuICuIV edge ligand show that the position of the OH- ligand depends on the protonation state of the lysine. This would change the coupling of the Cu-(OH) stretch with the Cu-S stretch, as observed in the rR spectrum. Thus, the observed pH effect (pKa approximately 9.2) likely reflects protonation equilibrium of the lysine residue, which would both raise E degrees and provide a proton for lowering the barrier for the N-O cleavage and for reduction of the [Cu4S(im)7OH]2+ to the fully reduced 4CuI active form for turnover.

Reductively activated nitrous oxide reductase reacts directly with substrate.

In the terminal step of bacterial denitrification, N2O is converted to N2 at the mu4-sulfide bridged tetranuclear CuZ center of nitrous oxide reductase. The enzyme can be activated by reduced methyl viologen, with up to a 15-fold increase in specific activity. The reductively activated nitrous oxide reductase from Achromobacter cycloclastes was isolated and characterized by visible absorption and EPR spectroscopy, and both methods showed that the CuZ center can attain a [4Cu(I)] oxidation state. When N2O was added to the activated, reductant-free enzyme, distinct spectral changes were observed, indicating that this state of the enzyme interacts with substrate. This was further supported by the detection of 15N-labeled product in the absence of steady-state turnover conditions. A new absorption band around 970 nm appeared following reaction of activated nitrous oxide reductase with N2O, which may represent a catalytic intermediate state of the enzyme.

Elucidating thermodynamic parameters for electron transfer proteins using isothermal titration calorimetry: application to the nitrogenase Fe protein.

Establishing thermodynamic parameters for electron transfer reactions involving redox proteins is essential for a complete description of these important reactions. While various methods have been developed for measuring the Gibbs free energy change (Delta G(HR) or E(m)) for the protein half-reactions, deconvolution of the respective contributions of enthalpy (Delta H(HR)) and entropy (Delta S(HR)) changes is much more challenging. In the present work, an approach is developed using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) that allows accurate determination of all of these thermodynamic parameters for protein electron transfer half-reactions. The approach was validated for essentially irreversible and reversible electron transfer reactions between well-characterized mediators and between mediators and the protein cytochrome c. In all cases, the measured thermodynamic parameters were in excellent agreement with parameters determined by electrochemical methods. Finally, the calorimetry approach was used to determine thermodynamic parameters for electron transfer reactions of the nitrogenase Fe protein [4Fe-4S](2+/+) couple in the absence or presence of MgADP or MgATP. The E(m) value was found to change from -290 mV in the absence of nucleotides to -381 mV with MgATP and -423 mV with MgADP, consistent with earlier values. For the first time, the enthalpy (Delta H(HR)) and entropy (Delta S(HR)) contributions for each case were established, revealing shifts in the contribution of each thermodynamic parameter induced by nucleotide binding. The results are discussed in the context of current models for electron transfer in nitrogenase.