Tree shrews are a nonprimate species used in a range of biomedical studies. Recent genome analysis of tree shrews found that the sequence identities and the numbers of genes of cytochrome P450 (CYP or P450), an important family of drug-metabolizing enzymes, are similar to those of humans. However, tree shrew P450s have not yet been sufficiently identified and analyzed. In this study, novel CYP2D8a and CYP2D8b cDNAs were isolated from tree shrew liver and were characterized, along with human CYP2D6, dog CYP2D15, and pig CYP2D25. The amino acid sequences of these tree shrew CYP2Ds were 75%–78% identical to human CYP2D6, and phylogenetic analysis showed that they were more closely related to human CYP2D6 than rat CYP2Ds, similar to dog and pig CYP2Ds. For tree shrew CYP2D8b, two additional transcripts were isolated that contained different patterns of deletion. The gene and genome structures of CYP2Ds are generally similar in dogs, humans, pigs, and tree shrews. Tree shrew CYP2D8a mRNA was most abundantly expressed in liver, among the tissue types analyzed, similar to dog CYP2D15 and pig CYP2D25 mRNAs. Tree shrew CYP2D8b mRNA was also expressed in liver, but at a level 7.3-fold lower than CYP2D8a mRNA. Liver microsomes and recombinant protein of both tree shrew CYP2Ds metabolized bufuralol and dextromethorphan, selective substrates of human CYP2D6, but the activity level of CYP2D8a greatly exceeded that of CYP2D8b. These results suggest that tree shrew CYP2D8a and CYP2D8b are functional drug-metabolizing enzymes, of which CYP2D8a is the major CYP2D in liver.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Novel tree shrew CYP2D8a and CYP2D8b cDNAs were isolated from liver. Their amino acid sequences were 75%–78% identical to human CYP2D6. For CYP2D8b, two additional transcripts contained different patterns of deletion. Tree shrew CYP2D8a mRNA was abundantly expressed in liver, similar to dog CYP2D15 and pig CYP2D25 mRNAs. Recombinant tree shrew CYP2Ds catalyzed the oxidation of bufuralol and dextromethorphan. Tree shrew CYP2D8a and CYP2D8b are functional drug-metabolizing enzymes, of which CYP2D8a is the major CYP2D in liver.

This work was supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research [Grants 23K05538 and 23K06217].

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

dx.doi.org/10.1124/dmd.123.001603.