CHARACTERIZATION OF NOVEL CYP2A6 POLYMORPHIC ALLELES (CYP2A6*18 AND CYP2A6*19) THAT AFFECT ENZYMATIC ACTIVITY

Genetic polymorphisms of CYP2A6 gene are known as a causal factor of the interindividual differences in nicotine metabolism. We found three novel CYP2A6 alleles. The CYP2A6*18A allele has a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of A5668T (A1175T, Y392F) in exon 8. The CYP2A6*18B allele has synonymous SNPs of G51A (G51A), T5684C (T1191C), and T5702C (T1209C) in addition to A5668T (A1175T, Y392F). The CYP2A6*19 allele has the SNPs of A5668T (A1175T, Y392F), T6354C (intron 8), and T6558C (T1412C, I471T) as well as the conversion with the CYP2A7 sequence in the 3-untranslated region, in which the latter two changes correspond to CYP2A6*7. Ethnic differences in the frequencies of these alleles were observed between whites, African-Americans, Japanese, and Koreans. Wild or variant CYP2A6 (CYP2A6*18, CYP2A6*19, and CYP2A6*7) were expressed in Escherichia coli. For coumarin 7-hy-droxylation and 5-fluorouracil formation from tegafur, the Km val