Antagonist- and inverse agonist-driven interactions of the vitamin D receptor and the constitutive androstane receptor with corepressor protein

Ligand-dependent signal transduction by nuclear receptors (NRs) includes dynamic exchanges of coactivator (CoA) and corepressor (CoR) proteins. Here we focused on the structural determinants of the antagonist- and inverse agonist-enhanced interaction of the endocrine NR vitamin D receptor (VDR) and the adopted orphan NR constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) from two species with the CoR NR corepressor. We found that the pure VDR antagonist ZK168281 and the human CAR inverse agonist clotrimazole are both effective inhibitors of the CoA interaction of their respective receptors, whereas ZK168281 resembled more the mouse CAR inverse agonist androstanol in its ability to recruit CoR proteins. Molecular dynamics simulations resulted in comparable models for the CoR receptor interaction domain peptide bound to VDR/antagonist or CAR/inverse agonist complexes. A salt bridge between the CoR and a conserved lysine in helix 4 of the NR is central to this interaction, but also helix 12 was stabilized by direct contacts with residues of the CoR. Fixation of helix 12 in the antagonistic/inverse agonistic conformation prevents an energetically unfavorable free floatation of the C terminus. The comparable molecular mechanisms that explain the similar functional profile of antagonist and inverse agonists are likely to be extended from VDR and CAR to other members of the NR superfamily and may lead to the design of even more effective ligands.