Benzo[a]pyrene metabolism by the intertidal Sea Anemone, Bunodosoma cavernata

Incubations of Bunodosoma cavernata microsomes with benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and either NAD(P)H or tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) produced several oxidative metabolites including: 3-OH- B[a]P; 4,5-, 7,8-, and 9,10-B[a]P-diols; 1,6-, 3,6-, and 6,12-B[a]P-diones; B[a]P-tetrols; and B[a]P- diol epoxides. NADPH-dependent rates of B[a]P metabolism were approximately 70% greater than with NADH. The t-BHP-dependent reaction proceeded approximately 67-fold faster than the NAD(P)H-dependent reactions and produced primarily dials. Incubation of B[a]P with microsomes from the intertidal sea anemone, Bunodosoma cavernata, results in the production of oxidative metabolites of B[a]P consistent with an active cytochromes P450-mediated microsomal mixed-function oxygenase system.