Modeling of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligand binding domain and its utility in virtual ligand screening to predict new AhR ligands

J Med Chem. 2009 Sep 24;52(18):5635-41. doi: 10.1021/jm900199u.

Abstract

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor; the AhR Per-AhR/Arnt-Sim (PAS) domain binds ligands. We developed homology models of the AhR PAS domain to characterize previously observed intra- and interspecies differences in ligand binding using molecular docking. In silico structure-based virtual ligand screening using our model resulted in the identification of pinocembrin and 5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavone, which promoted nuclear translocation and transcriptional activation of AhR and AhR-dependent induction of endogenous target genes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Nucleus / metabolism
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Mice
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Phylogeny
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Protein Transport
  • Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / chemistry*
  • Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / genetics
  • Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / metabolism*
  • Transcriptional Activation / drug effects
  • User-Computer Interface

Substances

  • Ligands
  • Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon