The human debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase (CYP2D) locus: sequence and identification of the polymorphic CYP2D6 gene, a related gene, and a pseudogene

• Published in: American journal of human genetics Vol. 45; no. 6; pp. 889 - 904
• Main Authors: KIMURA, S, UMENO, M, SKODA, R. C, MEYER, U. A, GONZALEZ, F. J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL University of Chicago Press 01.12.1989
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Classical genetics, quantitative genetics, hybrids; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2D6; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - genetics; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Genomic Library; Human; Humans; loci; Male; Mixed Function Oxygenases - genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Multigene Family; Phenotype; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Pseudogenes; Restriction Mapping; Human; Pseudogene; Allele; Pharmacogenetics; Gene; Nucleotide sequence; Hydroxylase; Gene organization; Gene library; Molecular biology; Polymorphism
• ISSN: 0002-9297; 1537-6605

The debrisoquine-4-hydroxylase polymorphism is a genetic variation in oxidative drug metabolism characterized by two phenotypes, the extensive metabolizer (EM) and poor metabolizer (PM). Of the Caucasian populations of Europe and North America, 5%-10% are of the PM phenotype and are unable to metabolize debrisoquine and numerous other drugs. The defect is caused by several mutant alleles of the CYP2D6 gene, two of which are detected in about 70% of PMs. We have constructed a genomic library from lymphocyte DNA of an EM positively identified by pedigree analysis to be homozygous for the normal CYP2D6 allele. The normal CYP2D6 gene was isolated; was completely sequenced, including 1,531 and 3,522 bp of 5' and 3' flanking DNA, respectively; and was found to contain nine exons within 4,378 bp. Two other genes, designated CYP2D7 and CYP2D8P, were also cloned and sequenced. CYP2D8P contains several gene-disrupting insertions, deletions, and termination codons within its exons, indicating that this is a pseudogene. CYP2D7, which is just downstream of CYP2D8P, is apparently normal, except for the presence, in the first exon, of an insertion that disrupts the reading frame. A hypothesis is presented that the presence of a pseudogene within the CYP2D subfamily transfers detrimental mutations via gene conversions into the CYP2D6 gene, thus accounting for the high frequency of mutations observed in the CYP2D6 gene in humans.