A large-scale comparative analysis of affinity, thermodynamics and functional characteristics of interactions of twelve cytochrome P450 isoforms and their redox partners

The aim of the present work was to establish the thermodynamic and functional differences in the protein-protein interactions between the components of the P450-dependent mitochondrial (mit) and microsomal (mic) monooxygenase systems using 12 different isoforms of cytochromes P450 and two redox partners, NADPH-dependent cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) and adrenodoxin (Adx). Comparative analysis of the affinity, thermodynamics, enzymatic activity and the ability for one-electron reduction has been carried out. The study of protein-protein interactions to determine the equilibrium dissociation constants (Kd) was performed using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor Biacore 3000. We demonstrated that CPR and Adx interacted with both, micCYPs and mitCYPs, with different affinities (Kd values ranged from 0.01 to 2 μM). All complexes of microsomal (micCYP) and mitochondrial (mitCYP) cytochrome P450 with redox partners can be divided into three groups depending on the prevalent role of either enthalpy or entropy contribution. About 90% of CYP/redox partner complexes were entropy-driven, while the contribution of enthalpy and entropy differed significantly in case of mitCYP/Adx complexes. The CYP11A1/Adx complex was enthalpy-driven, while CYP11B1/Adx and CYP11B2/Adx complexes were entropy-driven. Thermodynamic discrimination of mitCYPs/Adx complexes is likely associated with the different functional impact of CYP11A1 and CYP11B. The exception was the enthalpy-entropy-driven (mixed type) CYP21A2/Adx complex. CPR and Adx were able to transfer the first electron to micCYPs while mitCYPs demonstrated high specificity to Adx. Productive catalysis for mitCYPs observed only in the presence of Adx/AdR pair, while in case of steroidogenic micCYPs (CYP17A1, CYP19A1, and CYP21A2) it was found either in the presence of a CPR or an Adx/AdR pair. From the evolutionary point of view, the type 1 electron transport system (mitCYPs, Adx and NADPH-dependent adrenodoxin reductase (AdR)) increased the specialization of protein-protein interactions (PPI) significantly, which was accompanied by an increase in the specificity of electron transfer. In contrast, the evolution of the type 2 electron transport system (micCYPs and CPR) led to an increase in versatility of PPI as demonstrated for steroidogenic microsomal cytochrome P450s. Our data enhance the current understanding of molecular recognition and summarize qualitative and thermodynamic characteristics of protein-protein interactions in the P450-dependent mitochondrial and microsomal monooxygenase systems.