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Cytochrome P450

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 78 Accesses

Synonyms

CYP450

Definition

Cytochrome P450 stands for a superfamily of closely related proteins that protect the individual against potentially harmful substances by modifying these substances by oxidation, hydroxylation, dealkylation, or dehalogenation, thereby increasing polarity and solubility and thus facilitating excretion from the body.

Characteristics

The body of an organism has a powerful system to facilitate the excretion of potentially harmful substances: the cytochrome P450 system. Cytochrome P450 stands for a superfamily of more than 50 closely related heme-containing enzymes, which can be divided into families (with at least 40 % sequence homology on the amino acid level) and subfamilies (with at least 55 % sequence homology), each with their own substrate specificity. The designation P450 is derived from the specific spectral absorbance at 450 nm of these proteins. The nomenclature is “CYP,” followed by an Arabic number to indicate the family, then a capital letter...

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References

  • http://www.cypallele.ki.se

  • Ingelman-Sundberg M, Oscarson M, McLellan R (1999) Polymorphic human cytochrome P450 enzymes: an opportunity for individualized drug treatment. Trends Pharmacol Sci 20:342–349

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  • Nelson DR, Koyman L, Kamataki T et al (1996) P450 superfamily: update on new sequences, gene mapping, accession numbers and nomenclature. Pharmacogenetics 6:1–42

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  • Solus JF, Arietta BJ, Harris JR et al (2004) Genetic variation in eleven phase I drug metabolism genes in an ethnically diverse population. Pharmacogenomics 5:895–931

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  • van Schaik RHN (2005) Cancer treatment and pharmacogenetics of cytochrome P450 enzymes. Invest New Drugs 23:513–522

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See Also

  • (2012) Single nucleotide polymorphism. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 3412. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5316

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  • (2012) SNP. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 3460. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5395

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  • (2012) Variant allele. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 3885. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_6152

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  • (2012) Wild-type. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 3947. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_6247

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  • (2012) Pharmacogenetics. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2840. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4496

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Chemistry, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Ron H. N. van Schaik

Authors
  1. Ron H. N. van Schaik
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Correspondence to Ron H. N. van Schaik .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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van Schaik, R.H.N. (2015). Cytochrome P450. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_1460-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_1460-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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