Steps Along the Path From Microsomal Fex to 8500 Cytochromes P450

Michael R. Waterman

Department of Biochemistry Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Nashville,Tennessee 37232-0146;
Tel.: 615 322-3318
E-mail: michael.waterman@vanderbilt.edu

Abstract
This article arises from the closing lecture presented at the 15th International Conference on Cytochrome P450 held in Bled, Slovenia in June, 2007. It provides me an opportunity to highlight what I feel to be the most important elements of my scientific career while at the same time acknowledging key events in P450 research which have had particular impact on my research. On this latter point, there are far too many such discoveries to cover here, and I have selected for mention only a few. I apologize at the outset for not being able to highlight all the wonderful work carried by many investigators over the 46 years of my career. Finally, let me emphasize that this is not a retirement presentation, simply one of a 67 year old investigator who hopes to keep on working for years to come. The support of two friends and colleagues in making this public reflection possible, Fred Guengerich and Damjana Rozman, is gratefully acknowledged.

Keywords: Cytochrome P450. sterodogenic P450s, bacterial P450s, sterol 14α-demethylase