Multiple forms of biliverdin reductase: age-related change in pattern of expression in rat liver and brain

Biliverdin reductase is the dual nucleotide-dependent cytosolic enzyme that converts biliverdin to the bile pigment, bilirubin, and displays extensive microheterogeneity in rat organs. The enzyme is unique in having two pH optima. The present study reports on the tissue-dependent pattern of developmental expression of the reductase in rat liver and brain. When analyzed by Western immunoblotting, two closely migrating immunoreactive proteins were detected in the liver cytosol during the first 2-3 weeks after birth; the protein with greater mobility was not detected in the liver of adult aged animals (6 months old) and was present at low levels in rats during the first week of life. The faster migrating protein was not detected in the brain cytosol at any stage of development. Furthermore, in the brain the total amount of enzyme protein increased as the animal matured, whereas in the liver the enzyme protein level decreased with age. When the purified enzyme was analyzed, age-related changes in the variant composition of the enzyme in the liver were noted. Although in both adult and newborn animals (14 days old) the purified enzyme, when subjected to isoelectric focusing, separates into five net charge forms (pl 6.23, 5.91, 5.76, 5.61, and 5.48), the relative abundance of the variants notably differed in the two preparations. In addition, when the purified preparations were subjected to two-dimensional electrophoresis, although both purified preparations separate into three molecular weight forms (Mr 30,400, 30,700, and 31,400) one species (Mr 31,400, pl = 5.77), which was very prominently expressed in the newborn, was essentially absent in the adult. Biliverdin reductase activity of the liver cytosol with both NADPH (pH 8.7) and NADH (pH 6.7) exhibited developmental changes, with the activity increasing after birth, reaching a peak on day 14, and decreasing to low levels in the adult. The existence of a close correlation between development of biliverdin reductase activity in the brain and liver and that of heme oxygenase in these organs is noted. The suggestion is made that the reductase is not a passive component of the heme degradation pathway; rather, its activity could become limiting in the elimination of heme degradation products.