CYP2C76 non-synonymous variants in cynomolgus and rhesus macaques

Cynomolgus CYP2C76, not orthologous to any human cytochrome P450, partly accounts for species differences in drug metabolism between cynomolgus macaques and humans. To discover the CYP2C76 variants, we previously surveyed cynomolgus macaque genomes and found several non-synonymous variants, including a null allele. However, the analysis was limited to cynomolgus macaques, and the number of genomes was relatively small. In this study, therefore, further screening was conducted using 74 cynomolgus and 30 rhesus macaques. A total of 18 non-synonymous variants was found, among which 7 were in substrate recognition sites, important for protein function, and 14 (74%) were shared by both macaque lineages. In cynomolgus macaques, 3 (16%) non-synonymous variants were unique to Indochinese animals, whereas all the variants found in Indonesian animals were shared by Indochinese animals. Among the 18 variants, as compared with the wild type, in progesterone 16α-hydroxylation, L65F, M310L, and N364S variants showed lower metabolic activity and lower intrinsic clearance by kinetic analysis. Molecular modeling indicated that the reduced catalytic activity of the L65F variant in progesterone 16α-hydroxylation possibly resulted from a longer distance of progesterone to the heme in the active site of the CYP2C76 protein. L65F, M310L, and N364S variants might partly influence inter-animal variations of CYP2C76 metabolic activities.