The Effects of Drug Metabolizing Enzyme Inhibitors on Hepatic Efflux and Uptake Transporters

The endoderm, differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), can differentiate into the small intestine and liver, which are vital for drug absorption and metabolism. The development of human iPSC-derived enterocytes (HiEnts) and hepatocytes (HiHeps) has been reported. However, pharmacokinetic function-deficiency of these cells remains to be elucidated. Here, we aimed to develop an efficient differentiation method to induce endoderm formation from human iPSCs. Cells treated with activin A for 168 h expressed higher levels of endodermal genes than those treated for 72 h. Using activin A (days 0–7), CHIR99021 and PI−103 (days 0–2), and FGF2 (days 3–7), the hiPSC-derived endoderm (HiEnd) showed 97.97% CD−117 and CD−184 double-positive cells. Moreover, HiEnts derived from the human iPSC line Windy had similar or higher expression of small intestine-specific genes than adult human small intestine. Activities of the drug transporter P-glycoprotein and drug-metabolizing enzyme cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4/5 were confirmed. Additionally, Windy-derived HiHeps expressed higher levels of hepatocyte- and pharmacokinetics-related genes and proteins and showed higher CYP3A4/5 activity than those derived through the conventional differentiation method. Thus, using this novel method, the differentiated HiEnts and HiHeps with pharmacokinetic functions could be used for drug development.

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Generation of tetracycline-controllable CYP3A4-expressing Caco-2 cells by the piggyBac transposon system

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-91160-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Moe Ichikawa ◽

Hiroki Akamine ◽

Michika Murata ◽

Sumito Ito ◽

Kazuo Takayama ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Small Intestine ◽

Drug Absorption ◽

Cell Model ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Piggybac Transposon ◽

Drug Metabolizing Enzyme ◽

Metabolizing Enzyme ◽

Cyp3a4 Expression

AbstractCaco-2 cells are widely used as an in vitro intestinal epithelial cell model because they can form a monolayer and predict drug absorption with high accuracy. However, Caco-2 cells hardly express cytochrome P450 (CYP), a drug-metabolizing enzyme. It is known that CYP3A4 is the dominant drug-metabolizing enzyme in human small intestine. In this study, we generated CYP3A4-expressing Caco-2 (CYP3A4-Caco-2) cells and attempted to establish a model that can simultaneously evaluate drug absorption and metabolism. CYP3A4-Caco-2 cells were generated by piggyBac transposon vectors. A tetracycline-controllable CYP3A4 expression cassette (tet-on system) was stably transduced into Caco-2 cells, thus regulating the levels of CYP3A4 expression depending on the doxycycline concentration. The CYP3A4 expression levels in CYP3A4-Caco-2 cells cultured in the presence of doxycycline were similar to or higher than those of adult small intestine. The CYP3A4-Caco-2 cells had enough ability to metabolize midazolam, a substrate of CYP3A4. CYP3A4 overexpression had no negative effects on cell proliferation, barrier function, and P-glycoprotein activity in Caco-2 cells. Thus, we succeeded in establishing Caco-2 cells with CYP3A4 metabolizing activity comparable to in vivo human intestinal tissue. This cell line would be useful in pharmaceutical studies as a model that can simultaneously evaluate drug absorption and metabolism.

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Estimation of polymorphisms in the drug-metabolizing enzyme, cytochrome P450 2C19 gene in six major ethnicities of Pakistan

Bioengineered ◽

10.1080/21655979.2021.1955809 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 4442-4451

Author(s):

Sagheer Ahmed ◽

Saima Gul ◽

Muhammad Akhlaq ◽

Abrar Hussain ◽

Sidrah Tariq Khan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cytochrome P450 ◽

Drug Metabolizing Enzyme ◽

Cytochrome P450 2C19 ◽

Metabolizing Enzyme

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Functional Assessment of 12 Rare Allelic CYP2C9 Variants Identified in a Population of 4773 Japanese Individuals

Journal of Personalized Medicine ◽

10.3390/jpm11020094 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 94

Author(s):

Masaki Kumondai ◽

Akio Ito ◽

Evelyn Marie Gutiérrez Rico ◽

Eiji Hishinuma ◽

Akiko Ueda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Enzymatic Activity ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Warfarin Dose ◽

Catalytic Efficiency ◽

Therapeutic Window ◽

Wild Type ◽

Drug Metabolizing Enzyme ◽

Novel Variants ◽

Metabolizing Enzyme ◽

Almost All

Cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) is an important drug-metabolizing enzyme that contributes to the metabolism of approximately 15% of clinically used drugs, including warfarin, which is known for its narrow therapeutic window. Interindividual differences in CYP2C9 enzymatic activity caused by CYP2C9 genetic polymorphisms lead to inconsistent treatment responses in patients. Thus, in this study, we characterized the functional differences in CYP2C9 wild-type (CYP2C9.1), CYP2C9.2, CYP2C9.3, and 12 rare novel variants identified in 4773 Japanese individuals. These CYP2C9 variants were heterologously expressed in 293FT cells, and the kinetic parameters (Km, kcat, Vmax, catalytic efficiency, and CLint) of (S)-warfarin 7-hydroxylation and tolbutamide 4-hydroxylation were estimated. From this analysis, almost all novel CYP2C9 variants showed significantly reduced or null enzymatic activity compared with that of the CYP2C9 wild-type. A strong correlation was found in catalytic efficiencies between (S)-warfarin 7-hydroxylation and tolbutamide 4-hydroxylation among all studied CYP2C9 variants. The causes of the observed perturbation in enzyme activity were evaluated by three-dimensional structural modeling. Our findings could clarify a part of discrepancies among genotype–phenotype associations based on the novel CYP2C9 rare allelic variants and could, therefore, improve personalized medicine, including the selection of the appropriate warfarin dose.

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