Isolation of multiple forms of indanol dehydrogenase associated with 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity from male rabbit liver.

Seven multiforms of indanol dehydrogenase were isolated in a highly purified state from male rabbit liver cytosol. The enzymes were monomeric proteins with similar molecular weights of 30,000-37,000 but with distinct electrophoretic mobilities. All the enzymes oxidized alicyclic alcohols including benzene dihydrodiol and hydroxysteroids at different optimal pH, but showed clear differences in cofactor specificity, steroid specificity, and reversibility of the reaction. Two NADP+-dependent enzymes exhibited both 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity for 5 alpha-androstanes and 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity for 5 beta-androstan-3 alpha-ol-17-one. Three of the other enzymes with dual cofactor specificity catalyzed predominantly 5 beta-androstane-3 alpha,17 beta-diol dehydrogenation. The reverse reaction rates of these five enzymes were low, whereas the other two enzymes, which had 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity for 5 alpha-androstanes or 3(17)beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity for 5 alpha-androstanes, highly reduced 3-ketosteroids and nonsteroidal aromatic carbonyl compounds with NADPH as a cofactor. All the enzymes exhibited Km values lower for the hydroxysteroids than for the alicyclic alcohols. The results of kinetic analyses with a mixture of 1-indanol and hydroxysteroids, pH and heat stability, and inhibitor sensitivity suggested strongly that, in the seven enzymes, both alicyclic alcohol dehydrogenase and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activities reside on a single enzyme protein. On the basis of these data, we suggest that indanol dehydrogenase exists in multiple forms in rabbit liver cytosol and may function in in vivo androgen metabolism.