CYP3A7 is an enzyme belonging to the

cytochrome P450 Cytochromes P450 (P450s or CYPs) are a Protein superfamily, superfamily of enzymes containing heme as a cofactor (biochemistry), cofactor that mostly, but not exclusively, function as monooxygenases. However, they are not omnipresent; for examp ...

family. It is 503

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. Only these 22 a ...

s in size and shares 87% of its sequence with

CYP3A4 Cytochrome P450 3A4 (abbreviated CYP3A4) () is an important enzyme in the body, mainly found in the liver and in the intestine, which in humans is encoded by ''CYP3A4'' gene. It organic redox reaction, oxidizes small foreign organic molecules ( ...

. It carries out a similar role in fetuses that

serves in adults. The gene location is 7q22.1. The CYP3A group of enzymes are the most abundantly expressed members of the cytochrome P450 family in liver. They are responsible for the

metabolism Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

of more than 50% of all clinical pharmaceuticals. The CYP3A7 enzyme hydroxylates testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone 3-sulphate, which is involved in the formation of estriol during pregnancy. The ''CYP3A7'' gene is part of a cluster of related genes on chromosome 7q21.1. Naturally-occurring readthrough transcription occurs between this gene and the downstream CYP3A51P pseudogene.

Notable alleles

The CYP3A7*1C

allele An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule. Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), ...

is associated with poor outcomes in some cancer patients, possibly because of the effect of the enzyme on some

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

agents.

References

External links

* * 3 EC 1.14.14 {{oxidoreductase-stub