Ko. Lindros et al., SELECTIVE CENTRILOBULAR EXPRESSION OF THE ARYL-HYDROCARBON RECEPTOR IN RAT-LIVER, The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, 280(1), 1997, pp. 506-511
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a transcriptional activator of
genes encoding a group of drug-metabolizing enzymes, including cytochr
ome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), glutathione S-transferase, tumor-associated ald
ehyde dehydrogenase and quinone reductase. Both the constitutive and i
nducible expression of these genes in the liver is zonated, i.e., domi
nant in hepatocytes of the centrilobular region, a poorly understood p
osition-dependent phenomenon. By comparing cell lysates obtained from
opposite acinar regions we observed that immunoreactive AHR protein wa
s almost exclusively confined to centrilobular cells. The AHR mRNA, as
analyzed from cell lysates by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain
reaction, exhibited a similar, although somewhat less pronounced zonat
ion. By contrast, only slight zonation of the AHR nuclear translocator
mRNA was observed. Treatment of rats with omeprazole, an atypical non
ligand activator of the AHR, caused a zone-specific induction of CYP1A
1 in the centrilobular region similar to that seen after pretreatment
with the AHR ligand 3-methylcholanthrene. Our results suggest that the
zone-restricted expression of AHR protein will allow the constitutive
and inducible expression of AHR-regulated genes in the centrilobular
region, but will limit their expression in the periportal region.