New insights into the 3-methylcholanthrene-induced chromatin binding profiles of aryl hydrocarbon and estrogen receptor alpha

Crosstalk between AHR and ERalpha signalling pathways has been well documented, but the underlying molecular mechanisms still remain unclear. To gain a better understanding of the functional interplay between AHR and ERalpha I performed ChIP-chip experiments in T-47D cells treated with 3MC to identify novel genomic regions bound by these transcription factors. I also performed time course ChIP experiments to profile the kinetics of AHR, ARNT, and ERalpha recruitment to select promoter regions. I observed that while 3MC treatment was able to induce oscillatory recruitment of AHR, ARNT, and ERalpha, this recruitment did not necessarily result in changes in gene expression. Furthermore, I demonstrated that re-dosing cells that were pre-treated with 3MC could not induce an additional peak in AHR, ARNT, and ERalpha recruitment. Collectively, the results of my study provide new and exciting insights into the 3MC-mediated chromatin binding profiles of AHR and ERalpha.