title: Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor by methyl yellow and related congeners: structure-activity relationships in halogenated derivatives.
abstract: 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.
authors: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Japan.
authors: Taka-aki
authors: TA
authors: Kato
authors: Tomonari
authors: T
authors: Matsuda
authors: Saburo
authors: S
authors: Matsui
authors: Takaharu
authors: T
authors: Mizutani
authors: Ken-ichi
authors: K
authors: Saeki
mesh_terms: D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D004124:p-Dimethylaminoazobenzene / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; D004124:p-Dimethylaminoazobenzene