Reduction of N-hydroxy-sulfonamides, including N-hydroxy-valdecoxib, by the molybdenum-containing enzyme mARC.

Purification of the mitochondrial enzyme responsible for reduction of N-hydroxylated amidine prodrugs led to the identification of two newly discovered mammalian molybdenum-containing proteins, the mitochondrial amidoxime reducing components mARC-1 and mARC-2 (Gruenewald et al., 2008). These 35-kDa proteins represent a novel group of molybdenum proteins in eukaryotes as they form a molybdenum cofactor-dependent enzyme system consisting of three separate proteins (Havemeyer et al., 2006). Each mARC protein reduces N-hydroxylated compounds after reconstitution with the electron transport proteins cytochrome b(5) and b(5) reductase. In continuation of our drug metabolism investigations (Havemeyer et al., 2006; Gruenewald et al., 2008), we present data from reconstituted enzyme systems with recombinant human and native porcine enzymes showing the reduction of N-hydroxy-sulfonamides (sulfohydroxamic acids) to sulfonamides: the N-hydroxy-sulfonamide N-hydroxy-valdecoxib (N-hydroxy-4-[5-methyl-3-phenyl-4-isoxazolyl]-benzenesulfonamide) represents a novel cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor and is therefore a drug candidate in the treatment of diseases associated with rheumatic inflammation, pain, and fever. It was synthesized as an analog of the known COX-2 inhibitor valdecoxib (4-[5-methyl-3-phenyl-4-isoxazolyl]-benzenesulfonamide) (Talley et al., 2000). N-Hydroxy-valdecoxib had low in vitro COX-2 activity but showed significant analgesic activity in vivo and a prolonged therapeutic effect compared with valdecoxib (Erdélyi et al., 2008). In this report, we demonstrate that N-hydroxy-valdecoxib is enzymatically reduced to its pharmacologically active metabolite valdecoxib. Thus, N-hydroxy-valdecoxib acts as prodrug that is activated by the molybdenum-containing enzyme mARC.