Antagonism, Androgen receptor

The androgen receptor (AR) and its function

Development of the male reproductive system and secondary male characteristics is dependent on androgens (foremost testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). T and the more biologically active DHT act by binding to the AR (MacLean et al, 1993; MacLeod et al, 2010; Schwartz et al, 2019), with human AR mutations and mouse knock-out models having established its pivotal role in masculinization and spermatogenesis (Walters et al, 2010). The AR is a ligand-activated transcription factor belonging to the steroid hormone nuclear receptor family (Davey & Grossmann, 2016). The AR has three domains; the N-terminal domain, the DNA-binding domain and the ligand-binding domain, with the latter being most evolutionary conserved. Apart from the essential role AR plays for male reproductive development and function (Walters et al, 2010), the AR is also expressed in many other tissues and organs such as bone, muscles, ovaries and the immune system (Rana et al, 2014). 

AR antagonism as Key Event

The main function of the AR is to activate gene transcription in cells. Canonical signaling occurs by ligands (androgens) binding to AR in the cytoplasm which results in translocation to the cell nucleus, receptor dimerization and binding to specific regulatory DNA sequences (Heemers & Tindall, 2007). The gene targets regulated by AR activation depends on cell/tissue type and what stage of development activation occur, and is, for instance, dependent on available co-factors. Apart from the canonical signaling pathway, AR can also function through non-genomic modalities, for instance rapid change in cell function by ion transport changes (Heinlein & Chang, 2002). However, with regard to this specific KE the canonical signaling pathway is what is referred to.

AR antagonism can be measured in vitro by transient or stable transactivation assays to evaluate nuclear receptor activation. There is already a validated assay for AR (ant)agonism adopted by the OECD, Test No. 458: Stably Transfected Human Androgen Receptor Transcriptional Activation Assay for Detection of Androgenic Agonist and Antagonist Activity of Chemicals (OECD, 2016). The stably transfected AR-EcoScreen^TM cells (Satoh et al, 2004) should be used for the assay and is freely available for the Japanese Collection of Research Bioresources (JCRB) Cell Bank under reference number JCRB1328.

Other assays include the AR-CALUX reporter gene assay that is derived from human U2-OS cells stably transfected with the human AR and an AR responsive reporter gene (van der Burg et al, 2010), various transiently transfected reporter cell lines (Körner et al, 2004), and more.

Recently developed AR dimerization assay may soon be included in TGs for its improved ability to measure potential stressor-mediated dimerization/activation (Lee et al, 2021).

Both the DNA-binding and ligand-binding domains of the AR are highly evolutionary conserved, whereas the transactivation domain show more divergence which may affect AR-mediated gene regulation across species (Davey & Grossmann, 2016). Despite certain inter-species differences, AR function mediated through gene expression is highly conserved, with mutations studies from both humans and rodents showing strong correlation for AR-dependent development and function (Walters et al, 2010).

This KE is applicable for both sexes, across developmental stages into adulthood, in numerous cells and tissues and across taxa

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