The CYP2D6 Humanized Mouse: Effect of the HumanCYP2D6 Transgene and HNF4α on the Disposition of Debrisoquine in the Mouse
- Javier Corchero1,
- Camille P. Granvil1,
- Taro E. Akiyama1,
- Graham P. Hayhurst1,1,
- Satish Pimprale2,1,
- Lionel Feigenbaum2,
- Jeffrey R. Idle3,3 and
- Frank J. Gonzalez1
- 1Laboratory of Metabolism (J.C., C.P.G., T.E.A., G.P.H., S.P., F.J.G.) and 2Laboratory Animal Resources (L.F.), National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland; and3Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology (J.R.I.), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Dr. Frank J. Gonzalez, Laboratory of Metabolism, National Cancer Institute, Building, 37, Room 3E24, Bethesda, MD 20892. E-mail:fjgonz{at}helix.nih.gov
Abstract
CYP2D6 is a highly polymorphic human gene responsible for a large variability in the disposition of more than 100 drugs to which humans may be exposed. Animal models are inadequate for preclinical pharmacological evaluation of CYP2D6 substrates because of marked species differences in CYP2D isoforms. To overcome this issue, a transgenic mouse line expressing the human CYP2D6 gene was generated. The complete wild-type CYP2D6 gene, including its regulatory sequence, was microinjected into a fertilized FVB/N mouse egg, and the resultant offspring were genotyped by both polymerase chain reaction and Southern blotting. CYP2D6-specific protein expression was detected in the liver, intestine, and kidney from only the CYP2D6 humanized mice. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that debrisoquine (DEB) clearance was markedly higher (94.1 ± 22.3 l/h/kg), and its half-life significantly reduced (6.9 ± 1.6 h), in CYP2D6 humanized mice compared with wild-type animals (15.2 ± 0.9 l/h/kg and 16.5 ± 4.5 h, respectively). Mutations in hepatic nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α), a hepatic transcription factor known to regulate in vitro expression of the CYP2D6 gene, could affect the disposition of CYP2D6 drug substrates. To determine whether the HNF4α gene modulates in vivo pharmacokinetics of CYP2D6 substrates, a mouse line carrying both the CYP2D6gene and the HNF4α conditional mutation was generated and phenotyped using DEB. After deletion of HNF4α, DEB 4-hydroxylase activity in CYP2D6 humanized mice decreased more than 50%. The data presented in this study show that only CYP2D6 humanized mice but not wild-type mice display significant DEB 4-hydroxylase activity and that HNF4α regulates CYP2D6 activity in vivo. The CYP2D6 humanized mice represent an attractive model for future preclinical studies on the pharmacology, toxicology, and physiology of CYP2D6-mediated metabolism.
Footnotes
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↵1 Present address: Unité de Génétique de la Différenciation, Départment de Biologie Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, 25/28 rue du Dr Roux 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
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↵2 Present address: GENTEST Corporation, 6 Henshaw Street, Woburn, MA 01801.
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↵3 Present address: Zlatá 34, 36005 Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
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This work was supported in part by a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the National Cancer Institute and Pfizer Inc. (Groton, CT). J.C. and C.P.G. contributed equally to this work.
- Abbreviations:
- PM
- poor metabolizer
- EM
- extensive metabolizer
- DEB
- debrisoquine
- HNF4α
- hepatic nuclear factor 4α
- bp
- base pair(s)
- P450
- cytochrome P450
- fl
- flanked by lox P
- AlbCre
- to albumin-Cre heterozygous
- PCR
- polymerase chain reaction
- mEH
- microsomal epoxide hydrolase
- SSC
- standard saline citrate
- MOPS
- 4-morpholinepropanesulfonic acid
- LC/MS/MS
- liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry
- 4-OH-DEB
- 4-hydroxydebrisoquine
- AUC
- area under the curve
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- Received June 13, 2001.
- Accepted August 10, 2001.
- The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
