A Role for the Orphan Human Cytochrome P450 2S1 in Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid -1 Hydroxylation Using an Untargeted Metabolomic Approach

Cytochrome P450 (P450) 2S1 is one of the orphan P450s, known to be expressed but not having a defined function with an endogenous substrate or in drug oxidations. Although it has been clearly demonstrated to catalyze reductive reactions, its role in NADPH-dependent oxidations has been ambiguous. In our efforts to characterize orphan human P450 enzymes, we used an untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectromterymetabolomic approach with recombinant human P450 2S1 and extracts of rat stomach and intestine, sites of P450 2S1 localization in humans and animals. The search yielded several candidates, including the product 19-hydroxyarachidonic acid. Subsequent O analysis and in vitro studies with commercial arachidonic acid and 19-hydroxyarachidonic acid were used to validate -1 hydroxylation of the former molecule as a NADPH- and O-dependent reaction. Steady-state kinetic assays were done for -1 hydroxylation reactions of P450 2S1 with several other long-chain fatty acids, including arachidonic, linoleic, -linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosapentaenoic acids. Rates of hydroxylation were slow, but no detectable activity was seen with either medium-chain length or saturated fatty acids. P450 2S1 is known to be expressed, at least at the mRNA level, to the extent of some other non-3A subfamily P450s in the human gastrointestinal tract, and the activity may be relevant. We conclude that P450 2S1 is a fatty acid -1 hydroxylase, although the physiologic relevance of these oxidations remains to be established. The metabolomic approaches we employed in this study are feasible for orphan P450s and other enzymes, in regard to annotation of function, in mammals and other organisms. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: An untargeted mass spectrometry approach was utilized to identify -1 hydroxylation of arachidonic acid as an oxidative reaction catalyzed by human cytochrome P450 2S1. The enzyme also catalyzes the relatively slow -1 hydroxylation of several other unsaturated long-chain fatty acids.