Identification of Tamoxifen-Induced Coregulator Interaction Surfaces within the Ligand-Binding Domain of Estrogen Receptors

Nina Heldring, Maria Nilsson, Benjamin Buehrer, Eckardt Treuter, Jan Åke Gustafsson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    49 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator that is clinically used as an antagonist to treat estrogen-dependent breast cancers but displays unwanted agonistic effects in other tissues. Previous studies on ERα have delineated a role of the N-terminal activation function AF-1 in mediating the agonistic effects of tamoxifen, while the mechanisms for how ERβ mediates tamoxifen action remain to be elucidated. As peptides can be used to detect distinct receptor conformations and binding surfaces for coactivators and corepressors, we attempted in this study to identify previously unrecognized peptides that interact specifically with ERs in the presence of tamoxifen. We identified two distinct peptides among others that are highly selective for tamoxifen-bound ERα or ERβ. Domain mapping and mutation analysis suggest that these peptides recognize a novel tamoxifen-induced binding surface within the C-terminal ligand-binding domain that is distinct from the agonist-induced AF-2 surface. Peptide expression specifically inhibited transcriptional ER activity in response to tamoxifen, presumably by preventing the binding of endogenous coactivators. Moreover, tamoxifen-responsive and ER subtype-selective coactivators were engineered by replacing the LXXLL motifs in the coactivator TIF2 with either of the two peptides. Finally, our results indicate that related coactivators may act via the novel tamoxifen-induced binding surface, referred to as AF-T, allowing us to propose a revised model of tamoxifen agonism.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)3445-3459
    Number of pages15
    JournalMolecular and Cellular Biology
    Volume24
    Issue number8
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Apr 2004

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Molecular Biology
    • Cell Biology

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