The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) mediates the toxic actions of environmental contaminants, such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-ρ-dioxin (TCDD), and also plays roles in vascular development, the immune response, and cell cycle regulation. The AHR repressor (AHRR) is an AHR-regulated gene and a negative regulator of AHR; however, the mechanisms of AHRR-dependent repression of AHR are unclear. In this study, we compared the genome-wide binding profiles of AHR and AHRR in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells treated for 24 h with TCDD using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by next-generation sequencing (ChIP-Seq). We identified 3915 AHR- and 2811 AHRR-bound regions, of which 974 (35%) were common to both datasets. When these 24-h datasets were also compared with AHR-bound regions identified after 45 min of TCDD treatment, 67% (1884) of AHRR-bound regions overlapped with those of AHR. This analysis identified 994 unique AHRR-bound regions. AHRR-bound regions mapped closer to promoter regions when compared with AHR-bound regions. The AHRE was identified and overrepresented in AHR:AHRR-co-bound regions, AHR-only regions, and AHRR-only regions. Candidate unique AHR- and AHRR-bound regions were validated by ChIP-qPCR and their ability to regulate gene expression was confirmed by luciferase reporter gene assays. Overall, this study reveals that AHR and AHRR exhibit similar but also distinct genome-wide binding profiles, supporting the notion that AHRR is a context- and gene-specific repressor of AHR activity.
Keywords: 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-ρ-dioxin (TCDD); Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR); Aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR); Aryl hydrocarbon response element (AHRE); Chromatin immunoprecipitation with next-generation sequencing (ChIP-Seq); DNA binding.