Flavin-containing monooxygenase

The flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) protein family specializes in the oxidation of xeno-substrates in order to facilitate the excretion of these compounds from living organisms. These enzymes can oxidize a wide array of heteroatoms, particularly soft nucleophiles, such as amines, sulfides, and phosphites. This reaction requires an oxygen, an NADPH cofactor, and an FAD prosthetic group. FMOs share several structural features, such as a NADPH binding domain, FAD binding domain, and a conserved arginine residue present in the active site. Recently, FMO enzymes have received a great deal of attention from the pharmaceutical industry both as a drug target for various diseases and as a means to metabolize pro-drug compounds into active pharmaceuticals. These monooxygenases are often misclassified because they share activity profiles similar to those of cytochrome P450 (CYP450), which is the major contributor to oxidative xenobiotic metabolism. However, a key difference between the two enzymes lies in how they proceed to oxidize their respective substrates; CYP enzymes make use of an oxygenated heme prosthetic group, while the FMO family utilizes FAD to oxidize its substrates. Prior to the 1960s, the oxidation of xenotoxic materials was thought to be completely accomplished by CYP450. However, in the early 1970s, Dr. Daniel Ziegler from the University of Texas at Austin discovered a hepatic flavoprotein isolated from pig liver that was found to oxidize a vast array of various amines to their corresponding nitro state. This flavoprotein named 'Ziegler's enzyme' exhibited unusual chemical and spectrometric properties. Upon further spectroscopic characterization and investigation of the substrate pool of this enzyme, Dr. Ziegler discovered that this enzyme solely bound FAD molecule that could form a C4a-hydroxyperoxyflavin intermediate, and that this enzyme could oxidize a wide variety of substrates with no common structural features, including phosphines, sulfides, selenium compounds, amongst others. Once this was noticed, Dr. Ziegler's enzyme was reclassified as a broadband flavin monooxygenase. In 1984, the first evidence for multiple forms of FMOs was elucidated by two different laboratories when two distinct FMOs were isolated from rabbit lungs. Since then, over 150 different FMO enzymes have been successfully isolated from a wide variety of organisms. Up until 2002, only 5 FMO enzymes were successfully isolated from mammals. However, a group of researchers found a sixth FMO gene located on human chromosome 1. In addition to the sixth FMO discovered as of 2002, the laboratories of Dr. Ian Philips and Elizabeth Sheppard discovered a second gene cluster in humans that consists of 5 additional pseudogenes for FMO on human chromosome 1. The FMO family of genes is conserved across all phyla that have been studied so far, therefore some form of the FMO gene family can be found in all studied eukaryotes. FMO genes are characterized by specific structural and functional constraints, which led to the evolution of different types of FMO's in order to perform a variety of functions. Divergence between the functional types of FMO's (FMO 1–5) occurred before the amphibians and mammals diverged into separate classes. FMO5 found in vertebrates appears to be evolutionarily older than other types of FMO's, making FMO5 the first functionally distinct member of the FMO family. Phylogenetic studies suggest that FMO1 and FMO3 are the most recent FMO's to evolve into enzymes with distinct functions. Although FMO5 was the first distinct FMO, it is not clear what function it serves since it does not oxygenate the typical FMO substrates involved in first-pass metabolism. Analyses of FMO genes across several species have shown extensive silent DNA mutations, which indicate that the current FMO gene family exists because of selective pressure at the protein level rather than the nucleotide level. FMO's found in invertebrates are found to have originated polyphyletically; meaning that a phenotypically similar gene evolved in invertebrates which was not inherited from a common ancestor. FMOs are one subfamily of class B external flavoprotein monooxygenases (EC 1.14.13), which belong to the family of monooxygenase oxidoreductases, along with the other subfamilies Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases and microbial N-hydroxylating monooxygenases. FMO's are found in fungi, yeast, plants, mammals, and bacteria. Developmental and tissue specific expression has been studied in several mammalian species, including humans, mice, rats, and rabbits. However, because FMO expression is unique to each animal species, it is difficult to make conclusions about human FMO regulation and activity based on other mammalian studies. It is likely that species-specific expression of FMO's contributes to differences in susceptibility to toxins and xenobiotics as well as the efficiency with excreting among different mammals. Six functional forms of human FMO genes have been reported. However, FMO6 is considered to be a pseudogene. FMOs 1–5 share between 50–58% amino acid identity across the different species. Recently, five more human FMO genes were discovered, although they fall in the category of pseudogenes.