title: Protein dynamics and imidazole binding in cytochrome P450 enzymes.
abstract: P450 (cytochrome P450) enzymes have major roles in the biosynthesis of endogenous factors such as steroids and eicosanoids, in the termination of the action of endogenous factors such as retinoic acid, in the metabolism of most drugs and xenobiotics and in the generation of toxic and carcinogenic products. Understanding the determinants of the substrate and inhibitor specificities of these enzymes is important for drug design. The crystallographic analysis of the deformability of two bacterial P450 active sites associated with the binding of azole (a class of inhibitors with an imidazole or triazole ring that co-ordinates to the haem iron) inhibitors described in the present study illustrates the importance of protein conformational malleability in the binding of imidazole derivatives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, 600, 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94143-228, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verras
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Ortiz de Montellano
mesh_terms: D065607:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D065607:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D007093:Imidazoles; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System