Lack of an absolute requirement for the native aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and AhR nuclear translocator transactivation domains in protein kinase C-mediated modulation of the AhR pathway

Protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated modulation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway was examined in CHOK1-derived L10.I cells stably transfected with the pGUDLUC6.1 reporter; pGUDLUC6.1 is solely controlled by four dioxin-responsive enhancer elements. Co treatment of L10.I cells with 10 nM 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and 81 nM phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), an activator of sn-1,2-diacylglyerol binding PKCs, enhanced transactivation of the reporter construct several-fold relative to cells treated with a saturating 10 nM TCDD dose alone; this effect was dubbed the 'PMA effect.' A domain swapping and deletional analysis of the native AhR and AhR nuclear translocator (ARNT) protein transactivation domains (TADs) was performed to determine if these domains are absolutely required for the AhR · ARNT dimer-mediated PMA effect in the L10.I model system; controls demonstrate the suitability of the L10.I model for these analyses and that endogenous AhR and ARNT levels are extremely low in this model. Transient coexpression of the AhR and ARNT-474-FLAG, an ARNT protein lacking the native ARNT TAD, in L10.I cells reveals the native ARNT TAD is not absolutely required for the AhR · ARNT-474-FLAG dimer to mediate the PMA effect. Transient coexpression of AhRΔCVP, a chimeric AhR protein in which the native AhR TAD has been replaced with the VP16 (herpes simplex virus protein 16) TAD (which control experiments demonstrate is unaffected by PMA), and ARNT in L10.I cells indicates that the native AhR TAD is not absolutely required for this AhRΔCVP · ARNT dimer to mediate the PMA effect. These observations strongly suggest that PKC-mediated modulation of the AhR pathway is not absolutely dependent on coactivators recruited to the AhR · ARNT dimer by the native TADs of the AhR and its heterodimerization partner ARNT.