Search

We previously reported that raloxifene, an estrogen receptor modulator, is also a ligand for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Raloxifene induces apoptosis in estrogen receptor-negative human cancer cells through the AhR. We performed structure-activity studies with seven raloxifene analogs to better understand the structural requirements of raloxifene for induction of AhR-mediated transcriptional activity and apoptosis. We identified Y134 as a raloxifene analog that activates AhR-mediated transcriptional activity and induces apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 human triple negative breast cancer cells. Suppression of AhR expression strongly reduced apoptosis induced by Y134, indicating the requirement of AhR for Y134-induced apoptosis. Y134 also induced apoptosis in hepatoma cells without having an effect on cell cycle regulation. Toxicity testing on zebrafish embryos revealed that Y134 has a significantly better safety profile than raloxifene. Our studies also identified an analog of raloxifene that acts as a partial antagonist of the AhR, and is capable of inhibiting AhR agonist-induced transcriptional activity. We conclude that Y134 is a promising raloxifene analog for further optimization as an anti-cancer agent targeting the AhR., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that regulates the expression of a diverse group of genes. Exogenous AHR ligands include the environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), which is a potent agonist, and the synthetic AHR antagonist N-2-(1H-indol-3yl)ethyl)-9-isopropyl-2- (5-methylpyridin-3-yl)-9H-purin-6-amine (GNF351). As no experimentally determined structure of the ligand binding domain exists, homology models have been utilized for virtual ligand screening (VLS) to search for novel ligands. Here, we have developed an "agonist-optimized" homology model of the human AHR ligand binding domain, and this model aided in the discovery of two human AHR agonists by VLS. In addition, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of an agonist TCDD-bound and antagonist GNF351-bound version of this model in order to gain insights into the mechanics of the AHR ligand-binding pocket. These simulations identified residues 307-329 as a flexible segment of the AHR ligand pocket that adopts discrete conformations upon agonist or antagonist binding. This flexible segment of the AHR may act as a structural switch that determines the agonist or antagonist activity of a given AHR ligand.