ABSTRACT
This study investigated the inhibitory effect of eight natural flavonoids in Chinese herb Scutellariae Radix on huamn cytochrome P450 1 A(CYP1 A), a key cancer chemo-preventive target. In this study, phenacetin was used as a probe substrate for CYP1 A, while human liver microsomes and recombinant human CYP1 A enzymes were used as enzyme sources. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to monitor the formation rates of acetaminophen, the O-deethylated metabolite of phenacetin. The dose-dependent inhibition curves were depicted based on the changes of the formation rates of acetaminophen, while the IC_(50) were determined. Inhibition kinetic analyses and docking simulations were used to investigate the inhibition modes and mechanism of wogonin(the most potent CYP1 A inhibitor in this herb), while the inhibition constants(K_i) of wogonin against both CYP1 A1 and CYP1 A2 were determined. Among all tested flavonoids, wogonin, 7-methoxyflavanone and oroxylin A displayed a strong inhibitory effect on CYP1 A(IC_(50)100 μmol·L~(-1)). Further investigations demonstrated that wogonin had a weak inhibitory effect on other human CYP enzymes, suggesting that it could be used as a lead compound for the development of specific inhibitors of CYP1 A. Furthermore, the inhibition kinetic analyses clearly demonstrated that wogonin could strongly inhibit phenacetin O-deethylation in both CYP1 A1 and CYP1 A2 in a competitive manner, with K_i values at 0.118 and 0.262 μmol·L~(-1), respectively. Molecular docking demonstrated that wogonin could strongly interact with CYP1 A1 and CYP1 A2 via hydrophobic and π-π interactions, as well as Ser120 and Ser116 in CYP1 A1 via hydrogen-bonding. In conclusion, this study found that some flavonoids in Scutellariae Radix displayed a strong inhibitory effect on CYP1 A, while wogonin is the most potent CYP1 A inhibitor with a relatively high selectivity towards CYP1 A over other human CYPs.