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Activation of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor by Methyl Yellow and Related Congeners: Structure-Activity Relationships in Halogenated Derivatives.

2002; Pharmaceutical Society of Japan; Volume: 25; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1248/bpb.25.466

1347-5215

Takaaki Kato, Tomonari Matsuda, Saburo Matsui, Takaharu Mizutani, Ken‐ichi Saeki,

bioluminescence and chemiluminescence research

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that mediates the biological action of many environmental compounds. Methyl yellow (4-dimethylaminoazobenzene; MY) is a principal azo-dye, and structurally related compounds were subjected to analysis of structure–activity relationships as AhR ligands by using a yeast AhR signaling assay. The effects of halogen-substitution among 23 halogenated MYs on the AhR ligand activity can be summarized as follows: enhancement by halogen-substitution at the ortho-position (2′- and 6′-position), and reduction by substitution at the para-position (4′-position). The greatest enhancement of the ligand activity was observed in 2′,6′-dichlorinated MY (13.5-fold of MY), and its AhR ligand activity was very close to that of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in the present assay system. In the study of compounds structurally related to MY, benzanilide (BA) showed almost the same AhR ligand activity as azobenzene and trans-stilbene. Furthermore, 4′-chlorobenzanilide, in which the length of the molecule is similar to that of MY, enhanced the AhR ligand activity by ortho(2′)-chlorine-substitution, and the AhR ligand activity of 2′,4′-dichlorobenzanilide was similar to that of 2′-chloro-MY. These results suggest that the amide bond is equivalent to the –N=N– or –CH=CH– double bond for recognition as the ligand by AhR in 1,2-diphenyl-1,2-ene derivatives.