Identification of clerodane diterpene modifying cytochrome P450 (CYP728D26) in Salvia divinorum - en route to psychotropic salvinorin A biosynthesis.
Iris Ngo, Rahul Kumar, Liang Li, Seon-Won Kim, Moonhyuk Kwon, Dae-Kyun Ro
Physiologia plantarum 2024 DOI: 10.1111/ppl.14569 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Salvia divinorum |
| Keywords | Pain management Non-opioid pain relief Alternative analgesics Biosynthesis Bioproduction Metabolic pathways Enzyme function Compound synthesis Natural products Plant compounds Phytochemicals Bioactive compounds Drug discovery Pharmaceutical research New therapeutics Medicinal chemistry |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key findings | CYP728D26 catalyzes C18 oxygenation on crotonolide G, advancing knowledge of salvinorin A biosynthesis. |
Abstract
Salvia divinorum is a hallucinogenic plant native to the Oaxaca in Mexico. The active ingredient for psychotropic effects in this plant is salvinorin A, a potent and highly selective κ-opioid receptor agonist. Salvinorin A is distinct from other well-known opioids, such as morphine and codeine, in that it is a non-nitrogenous diterpenoid with no affinity for μ-opioid receptor, the prime receptor of alkaloidal opioids. A terpene opioid that selectively targets a new opioid receptor (κ-opioid receptor) can be instrumental in developing alternative analgesics. Elucidation of the salvinorin A biosynthetic pathway can help bio-manufacture diverse semi-synthetic derivatives of salvinorin A but, to date, only two enzymes in the Salvinorin A pathway have been identified. Here, we identify CYP728D26 that catalyzes a C18 oxygenation on crotonolide G, which bears a clerodane backbone. Biochemical identity of CYP728D26 was validated by in vivo reconstitution in yeast, 1H- and 13C-NMR analyses of the purified product, and kinetic analysis of CYP728D26 with a Km value of 13.9 μM. Beyond the single oxygenation on C18, collision-induced dissociation analysis suggested two additional oxygenations are catalyzed by CYP728D26 to form crotonoldie G acid, although this carboxylic acid form is a minor product. Its close homologue CYP728D25 exhibited a C1-hydroxylation on the clerodane backbone in a reconstituted yeast system. However, CYP728D25 showed no activity in in vitro assays. This result implies that catalytic activities observed from overexpression systems should be interpreted cautiously. This work identified a new CYP catalyst and advanced our knowledge of salvinorin A biosynthesis.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on salvia divinorum, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salvinorin A: a potent naturally occurring nonnitrogenous kappa opioid selective agonist. | 2002 | Experimental study | |
| Salvinorin A, an active component of the hallucinogenic sage salvia divinorum is a highly efficacious kappa-opioid receptor agonist: structural and functional considerations. Cloned human kappa-opioid receptors expressed in human embryonic kidney-293 cells and... | 2004 | Experimental study | |
| Synthesis and κ-opioid receptor activity of furan-substituted salvinorin A analogues. Animal model | 2014 | Experimental study | |
| Identification of the molecular mechanisms by which the diterpenoid salvinorin A binds to kappa-opioid receptors. | 2005 | Experimental study | |
| Dopamine D2High receptors stimulated by phencyclidines, lysergic acid diethylamide, salvinorin A, and modafinil. Rat brain striatum homogenates | 2009 | Laboratory experiment |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Salvinorin A and Salvia divinorum: Toxicology, Pharmacological Profile, and Therapeutic Potential. International Journal of Molecular Sciences June 11, 2025
- Comparative genome analysis provides a foundation for defining salvinorin A biosynthesis in Salvia divinorum Nature Communications March 23, 2026
- Three cytochrome P450 enzymes consecutively catalyze the biosynthesis of furanoclerodane precursors in Salvia species. Plant communications May 12, 2025
Cites 15
- Salvinorin A: a potent naturally occurring nonnitrogenous kappa opioid selective agonist. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences September 3, 2002
- Salvinorin, a new trans-neoclerodane diterpene from Salvia divinorum(Labiatae) Journal of the Chemical Society Perkin Transactions 1 1982
- Divinorin A, a psychotropic terpenoid, and divinorin B from the hallucinogenic Mexican mint, Salvia divinorum The Journal of Organic Chemistry November 1, 1984
- Salvinorin A: from natural product to human therapeutics. Molecular interventions October 1, 2006
- Biosynthesis of the psychotropic plant diterpene salvinorin A: Discovery and characterization of the Salvia divinorum clerodienyl diphosphate synthase The Plant Journal November 19, 2016
and 10 more in the library