scholarly journals The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Undergoes Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1654
Author(s):  
Jinyun Chen ◽  
Yujie Yang ◽  
Wade A. Russu ◽  
William K. Chan

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated signaling molecule expressed in many cell types, including triple-negative and non-triple-negative breast cancer cells. It affects breast cancer growth and crosstalk with estrogen receptor signaling. Normally, this receptor is degraded shortly after ligand activation via the 26S proteasome. Here, we report that AHR undergoes chaperone-mediated autophagy in MDA-MB-468 triple-negative breast cancer cells. This lysosomal degradation of AHR exhibits the following characteristics: (1) it is triggered by 6 amino-nicotinamide, starvation, and piperazinylpyrimidine compound Q18; (2) it is not observed in non-triple-negative breast cancer cells (MCF-7, T47D, and MDA-MB-361); (3) it can be inhibited by progesterone receptor B but not estrogen receptor alpha; (4) it can be reversed by chloroquine but not MG132; (5) it requires LAMP2A; and (6) it involves AHR-HSC70 and AHR-LAMP2A interactions. The NEKFF sequence localized at amino acid 558 of human AHR appears to be a KFERQ-like motif of chaperone-mediated autophagy, responsible for the LAMP2A-mediated AHR protein degradation.

BMC Cancer ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Schüler-Toprak ◽  
Julia Häring ◽  
Elisabeth C. Inwald ◽  
Christoph Moehle ◽  
Olaf Ortmann ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana A. Callero ◽  
Andrea I. Loaiza-Pérez

Many estrogen-receptor- (ER-) expressing breast cancers become refractory to ER-based therapies. New antitumor drugs like aminoflavone (AF) and benzothiazoles (Bzs) have been developed and have exquisite antitumor activity in ER+MCF-7 and T47D cells and in a MCF-7 nude mouse model. ER(−) breast cancer cells like MDA-MB-231 are less susceptible. We previously found in MCF-7 cells that these drugs activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) via translocation to the nucleus, induction of AhR-specific DNA binding activity, and expression of CYP1A1, whose transcription is controlled by the AhR-ARNT transcription factor. CYP1A1 metabolizes AF and Bz to a species which directly or after further metabolism damages DNA. In contrast an AhR-deficient variant of MCF-7 or cells with predominantly nuclear AhR expression, such as MDA-MB 231, are resistant. Thus, these drugs, unlike other neoplastic agents, require AhR-mediated signaling to cause DNA damage. This is a new treatment strategy for breast cancers with intact AhR signaling.


2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1843-1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Wormke ◽  
Matthew Stoner ◽  
Bradley Saville ◽  
Kelcey Walker ◽  
Maen Abdelrahim ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and other aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligands suppress 17β-estradiol (E)-induced responses in the rodent uterus and mammary tumors and in human breast cancer cells. Treatment of ZR-75, T47D, and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells with TCDD induces proteasome-dependent degradation of endogenous estrogen receptor α (ERα). The proteasome inhibitors MG132, PSI, and PSII inhibit the proteasome-dependent effects induced by TCDD, whereas the protease inhibitors EST, calpain inhibitor II, and chloroquine do not affect this response. ERα levels in the mouse uterus and breast cancer cells were significantly lower after cotreatment with E plus TCDD than after treatment with E or TCDD alone, and our results indicate that AhR-mediated inhibition of E-induced transactivation is mainly due to limiting levels of ERα in cells cotreated with E plus TCDD. TCDD alone or in combination with E increases formation of ubiquitinated forms of ERα, and both coimmunoprecipitation and mammalian two-hybrid assays demonstrate that TCDD induces interaction of the AhR with ERα in the presence or absence of E. In contrast, E does not induce AhR-ERα interactions. Thus, inhibitory AhR-ERα cross talk is linked to a novel pathway for degradation of ERα in which TCDD initially induces formation of a nuclear AhR complex which coordinately recruits ERα and the proteasome complex, resulting in degradation of both receptors.


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