Tohoku University · Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics
Professor Yasushi Yamazoe's research lab specializes in drug metabolism and toxicology, with a focus on cytochrome P450 enzymes, nuclear receptors, and the metabolic activation of procarcinogens. The lab investigates the regulation of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters by transcription factors such as HNF4α and nuclear receptors like PXR and CAR, as well as the role of enzymes like prostaglandin H synthase in chemical-induced toxicity. A key research direction involves understanding herb-drug interactions, particularly the inhibition of CYP3A by furanocoumarins from herbal medicines, and the sex- and age-related differences in hepatic metabolism. The lab employs molecular, biochemical, and in vitro models to elucidate mechanisms underlying metabolic activation, enzyme regulation, and toxicological outcomes.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
The effect of pituitary factor on the constitutive and inducible levels of hepatic phenobarbital (PB)-inducible major cytochrome P-450, P-450b and P-450e, in male and female rat livers was studied by immunoblot analyses. Although only trace amounts (approximately 4 pmol/mg protein) of P-450b and P-450e were detected in untreated adult rats, hypophysectomy increased the contents of P-450b and P-450e 58- and 14-fold, respectively, in male rats and 118- and 30-fold, respectively, in female rats. Th
Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4alpha (HNF4alpha) is an important transcription factor in hepatic gene expression. Here, we have investigated the role of HNF4alpha in the expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters in human hepatocytes using an adenovirus expressing human HNF4alpha-small interfering RNA (hHNF4alpha-siRNA). The hHNF4alpha-siRNA effectively reduced the mRNA and nuclear protein levels of hHNF4alpha in a concentration-dependent manner. The hHNF4alpha-siRNA also decreased the
The mechanism involved in the metabolic activation of 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline, which is a pyrolysate isolated from broiled foods, to a mutagenic intermediate was studied in vitro. In a system containing hepatic microsomes and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline was converted to a product which was directly mutagenic to Salmonella typhimurium. The structure of the mutagenic metabolite was determined as the 2-N-hydroxy deriva
To investigate the possible drug interaction with herbal medicine, furanocoumarin derivatives isolated from several Umbelliferous crude drugs were examined for their inhibitory effects on a typical human drug metabolizing enzyme, cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A). Most furanocoumarins tested at 0.1 mM reduced microsomal testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation as an index of CYP3A activity to less than 50% of the control. In particular, the dimer and trimer derivatives of furanocoumarins showed striking inhibi
Characteristics of a typical male-dominant reaction, dealkylation of n-propoxycoumarin, in rat livers were studied in relation to microsomal testosterone 6 beta-hydroxylase. The depropylation was more than 10-fold higher in the liver of male than female adult rats, but the sex-related difference was eliminated by neonatal castration. Hypophysectomy of adult male rats, which decreased the rates of male-specific P-450-male-dependent reactions, increased the depropylation of propoxycoumarin, while
The presence of relatively high levels of prostaglandin H synthase (PHS) in the dog urinary bladder and its ability to mediate the activation of carcinogenic arylamines to DNA-bound products in vitro suggests the involvement of this enzyme in arylamine-induced bladder carcinogenesis. Since the PHS-dependent metabolism of 2-naphthylamine (2-NA) had been shown to yield both ring- and N-oxidation products in vitro, we compared the reactivity of 3H-labeled N-hydroxy-2-naphthylamine (N-OH-2-NA), 2-ni
The enzymatic activation of a promutagenic pyrolysate, 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), was studied using the Ames mutagenesis test system. The enzyme catalyzing the mutagenic activation of MeIQx is mainly localized in the microsomal fraction. A large number of revertants was observed in the presence of hepatic microsomes obtained from 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC)- or polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-treated rats but only a minimal number with the hepatic microsomes from untre
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