Characterization of cytochrome P450 CYP109E1 from Bacillus megaterium as a novel vitamin D3 hydroxylase

- CYP109E1 from Bacillus megaterium has a 25- and 24-hydroxylation activity towards vitamin D3.
- A CYP109E1 based whole-cell system for the conversion of vitamin D3 was established in Bacillus megaterium MS941 and the products of the reaction were identified by NMR analysis.
- Docking of vitamin D3 was performed to identify important amino acid residues in the active site responsible for selective product formation.
- Improvement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 production by the I85A mutant.

In this study the ability of CYP109E1 from Bacillus megaterium to metabolize vitamin D3 (VD3) was investigated. In an in vitro system using bovine adrenodoxin reductase (AdR) and adrenodoxin (Adx4-108), VD3 was converted by CYP109E1 into several products. Furthermore, a whole-cell system in B. megaterium MS941 was established. The new system showed a conversion of 95% after 24 h. By NMR analysis it was found that CYP109E1 catalyzes hydroxylation of VD3 at carbons C-24 and C-25, resulting in the formation of 24(S)-hydroxyvitamin D3 (24S(OH)VD3), 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)VD3) and 24S,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (24S,25(OH)2VD3). Through time dependent whole-cell conversion of VD3, we identified that the formation of 24S,25(OH)2VD3 by CYP109E1 is derived from VD3 via the intermediate 24S(OH)VD3. Moreover, using docking analysis and site-directed mutagenesis, we identified important active site residues capable of determining substrate specificity and regio-selectivity. HPLC analysis of the whole-cell conversion with the I85A-mutant revealed an increased selectivity towards 25-hydroxylation of VD3 compared with the wild type activity, resulting in an approximately 2-fold increase of 25(OH)VD3 production (45 mg l−1 day−1) compared to wild type (24.5 mg l−1 day−1).