Nomenclature Genes encoding P450 enzymes, and the enzymes themselves, are designated with the
root symbol CYP for the
superfamily, followed by a number indicating the
gene family, a capital letter indicating the subfamily, and another numeral for the individual gene. The convention is to
italicize the name when referring to the gene. For example,
CYP2E1 is the gene that encodes the enzyme
CYP2E1—one of the enzymes involved in
paracetamol (acetaminophen) metabolism. The
CYP nomenclature is the official naming convention, although occasionally
CYP450 or
CYP450 is used synonymously. These names should never be used as according to the nomenclature convention (as they denote a P450 in family number 450). However, some gene or enzyme names for P450s are also referred to by historical names (e.g. P450BM3 for CYP102A1) or functional names, denoting the catalytic activity and the name of the compound used as substrate. Examples include
CYP5A1,
thromboxane A2 synthase, abbreviated to
TBXAS1 (thromboxane A2 synthase 1), and
CYP51A1, lanosterol 14-α-demethylase, sometimes unofficially abbreviated to LDM according to its substrate (lanosterol) and activity (demethylation). These similarity-based groupings are frequently recovered in phylogenetic analyses and members generally share features in their catalytic activities. Sometimes the suggested similarity thresholds do not exactly match what phylogenetic patterns show (e.g. a new member that is close to a family but only 39% identical), causing what is known as "family creep" as the similarity threshold is reduced, or the occasional split of families. There is a universal nomenclature for the assignment of P450 family numbers across the taxonomic groups: • CYP6001–CYP6099: Fungal fusions of P450s with other enzymes, e.g. dioxygenases or peroxygenases or isomerases. • CYP71–99, CYP701–CYP999, ...: Plants (
Archaeplastida) • CYP101–299, ... Bacteria The taxonomic group blocks are defined for CYP1001–CYP69999 by stretching the taxonomic blocks defined for CYP101–999. For example, CYP3001–4999 and CYP30001–CYP49999 are allocated to animals. The reservations defined under these groups are not stretched. Several databases are available for the tracking of defined P450 family numbers, subfamily letters, and
ortholog group numbers, with the intention that not only there is no ambiguity in what each family-subfamily prefix means, but also that identically-named genes across different species are
orthologous to each other. , the most complete database is the P450 Atlas (version 1.3.0) covering 11068 families, 26037 subfamilies, 79577 ortholog groups and 164068 example sequences of ortholog groups. Comparison between many P450 enzymes of different families give rise to the concept of
clans, evolutionary grouping of families. The exact similarity cut-off is poorly defined, but it is generally understood that it should derive from a few first-diverging nodes of a phylogenetic tree. Some clans only have one family while others are highly diversified with many families within (e.g. CYP71-clan and CYP85-clan). Tracking the emergence of clans and families across many taxonomic groups paints a vivid picture of the evolution of metabolic capabilities.
By electron transfer system Based on the nature of the electron transfer proteins, P450s can be classified into several groups: •
CPR-P450 systems combine a
cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) and a P450 domain. •
Microsomal P450 systems in which electrons are transferred from
NADPH via a CPR (variously CPR, POR, or CYPOR). • Also found in bacteria such as the
P450meg (CYP106A2) from
Bacillus megaterium. •
Fr/Fd/P450 systems which employ a
ferredoxin reductase and a
ferredoxin to transfer electrons to P450. A representative is the plant plastid
P450cam (CYP101A1) system from the
CAM operon for
camphor-related substrates. •
Mitochondrial P450 systems which employ
adrenodoxin reductase and
adrenodoxin (a ferrodoxin) to transfer electrons from NADPH to P450. •
FMN/Fd/P450 systems: originally found in
Rhodococcus species, in which a
FMN-domain-containing
reductase is fused to the CYP. •
CYB5R/cyb5/P450 systems in which both electrons required by the CYP come from cytochrome b5, which is in turn reduced by
cytochrome b5 reductase (CYB5R). •
P450-only system which do not require external reducing power. Notable ones include
thromboxane synthase (CYP5),
prostacyclin synthase (CYP8), and CYP74A (
allene oxide synthase). ==Mechanism==