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Home Journal Highlights First Time Ever: Cytochrome P450 Genes Discovered in Virus
First Time Ever: Cytochrome P450 Genes Discovered in Virus Print E-mail

 

leietalMore than 10,000 cytochrome P450 (CYP) gene sequences have been identified from eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea. CYP is a family of enzymes that use iron in oxidation reactions, often for detoxification. Some adverse drug interactions, such as SSRI antidepressant interference with the breast cancer drug tamoxifen, occur when a drug interferes with metabolism of another by a CYP enzyme. Researchers have now shown for the first time ever that two CYP genes exists in a virus, the Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus, which is the largest known virus. However, despite spectrophotometric characterization of the protein, they were unable to attribute a biologic function to the gene. The finding raises many additional questions, says first author David C. Lamb, of Swansea University, United Kingdom: what is it doing in a virus? Is viral P450 linked to P450 evolution generally? "These are all questions we hope to address," he says.

(D. C. Lamb, L. Lei, A. G. S. Warrilow, G. I. Lepesheva, J. G. L. Mullins, M. R. Waterman, and S. L. Kelly. 2009. The first virally encoded cytochrome P450. J. Virol. 83:8266-8269.)