?
cytochrome P450 family 4 Cytochrome P450 family 4 (CYP4) proteins catalyze the omega-hydroxylation of the terminal carbon of fatty acids, including essential signaling molecules such as eicosanoids, prostaglandins and leukotrienes, and they are important for chemical defense. There are seven vertebrate family 4 subfamilies: CYP4A, CYP4B, CYP4F, CYP4T, CYP4V, CYP4X, and CYP4Z; three (CYP4X, CYP4A, CYP4Z) are specific to mammals. CYP4 enzymes metabolize fatty acids off various length, level of saturation, and branching. Specific subfamilies show preferences for the length of fatty acids; CYP4B, CYP4A and CYP4V, and CYP4F preferentially metabolize short (C7-C10), medium (C10-C16), and long to very long (C18-C26) fatty acid chains, respectively. CYP4 belongs to the large cytochrome P450 (P450, CYP) superfamily of heme-containing proteins that catalyze a variety of oxidative reactions of a large number of structurally different endogenous and exogenous compounds in organisms from all major domains of life. CYPs bind their diverse ligands in a buried, hydrophobic active site, which is accessed through a substrate access channel formed by two flexible helices and their connecting loop.
|