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Protein / target

Cytochrome P450 11B2, mitochondrial

Encoded byCYP11B2P19099Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
1
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Corticosterone 18-monooxygenase

Strongest disease association

Hypertension

Via encoding gene CYP11B2 · Genetic evidence · score 0.42

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Small molecules

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

A cytochrome P450 monooxygenase that catalyzes the biosynthesis of aldosterone, the main mineralocorticoid in the human body responsible for salt and water homeostasis, thus involved in blood pressure regulation, arterial hypertension, and the development of heart failure.

View complete UniProt function annotation

A cytochrome P450 monooxygenase that catalyzes the biosynthesis of aldosterone, the main mineralocorticoid in the human body responsible for salt and water homeostasis, thus involved in blood pressure regulation, arterial hypertension, and the development of heart failure (PubMed:11856349, PubMed:12530636, PubMed:1518866, PubMed:15356073, PubMed:1594605, PubMed:1775135, PubMed:22446688, PubMed:23322723, PubMed:9814482, PubMed:9814506). Catalyzes three sequential oxidative reactions of 11-deoxycorticosterone (21-hydroxyprogesterone), namely 11-beta hydroxylation, followed by two successive oxidations at C18 yielding 18-hydroxy and then 18-oxo intermediates (that would not leave the enzyme active site during the consecutive hydroxylation reactions), ending with the formation of aldosterone (PubMed:11856349, PubMed:12530636, PubMed:1518866, PubMed:1594605, PubMed:1775135, PubMed:22446688, PubMed:23322723, PubMed:9814506). Can also produce 18-hydroxycortisol and 18-oxocortisol, derived from successive oxidations of cortisol at C18, normally found at very low levels, but significantly increased in primary aldosteronism, the most common form of secondary hypertension (PubMed:15356073, PubMed:9814482). Mechanistically, uses molecular oxygen inserting one oxygen atom into a substrate and reducing the second into a water molecule. Two electrons are provided by NADPH via a two-protein mitochondrial transfer system comprising flavoprotein FDXR (adrenodoxin/ferredoxin reductase) and nonheme iron-sulfur protein FDX1 or FDX2 (adrenodoxin/ferredoxin) (PubMed:11856349, PubMed:1594605, PubMed:23322723, PubMed:23685396, PubMed:9814506). Besides its role in the biosynthesis of mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids, it can also participate in the androgen metabolic pathway, converting testosterone (17beta-hydroxy-4-androsten-3-one) to 11beta,17beta-dihydroxyandrost-4-ene-3-one (PubMed:23685396). Can also use progesterone as substrate (PubMed:33189850)

Subcellular location

Mitochondrion inner membrane
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (22)

Gene Ontology

  • Cmitochondrial inner membrane
  • Cmitochondrion
  • Fcorticosterone 18-monooxygenase activity
  • Fheme binding
  • Firon ion binding
  • Fsteroid 11-beta-monooxygenase activity
  • Fsteroid hydroxylase activity
  • Paldosterone biosynthetic process
  • PC21-steroid hormone biosynthetic process
  • Pcellular response to hormone stimulus
  • Pcellular response to peptide hormone stimulus
  • Pcellular response to potassium ion

503 aa · 58 kDa

Biological roles

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolismGO
View supporting evidence

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolism

  • ·cholesterol metabolic process
  • ·sterol metabolic process

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Approved medicines with mapped indications

1 medicine · 1 area

Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.

Cushing's Syndrome1 medicine

Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

1

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

ketoconazole
Inhibitor

Cytochrome P450 11B2 inhibitor

Indicated for Cushing's Syndrome

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 4 recorded protein targets

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene CYP11B2

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene CYP11B2 that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Cushing's Syndrome
0.65Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.49

Hypertension
0.47Limited support

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.27

View evidence synthesis (2)
Cushing's SyndromeModerately supported
0.65
agreement 0.520.78
Clinical81%Animal model18%Literature1%

Open Targets aggregate 0.49 · 3 independent evidence families

HypertensionLimited support
0.47
agreement 0.330.61
Genetic83%Literature17%

Open Targets aggregate 0.27 · 2 independent evidence families

The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Cushing's Syndrome0.49
Hypertension0.27

Drug development

1 compounds recorded · 1 approved

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 1 drug that targets this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (1 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (1)
LEVOKETOCONAZOLEApproval

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

Small moleculesStrong

Approved Drug and Structure with Ligand support this modality.

AntibodiesEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot loc med conf) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Protein degradersEmerging

Feasibility evidence (small molecule binder) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (6)
SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc med confPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

View all trials (26)

COMPLETED · via ketoconazole · NCT00000579

WITHDRAWN · via ketoconazole · NCT02147964

COMPLETED · via ketoconazole · NCT00393848

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

2

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for a drug that targets this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. Accelerated approval granted2014-11-18

    Accelerated approval: Ketoconazole Esteve (previously Ketoconazole HRA) (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via ketoconazole

  2. New publication2012-09-01
    Effect of ketoconazole on the pharmacokinetic profile of buprenorphine following administration of a once-weekly buprenorphine transdermal system.

    Clinical drug investigation · 2012 · 21 citations · Europe PMC · via ketoconazole

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.