Didehydroretinoic acid: retinoid receptor-mediated transcriptional activation and binding properties.

All-trans-3,4-Didehydroretinoic acid (vitamin A2 acid; DDRA) is one of the retinoids present in human skin, the most responsive tissue to retinoid treatment. To understand the mechanism of action of DDRA in the control of differentiation and tumorigenesis, we studied its interaction with cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins (CRABPs) and nuclear all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) receptors (RARs), and 9-cis-retinoic acid receptors (RXRs). The IC50 plots of DDRA for inhibition of [3H]RA binding to CRABP I and II and to RAR alpha, beta and gamma illustrate that this retinoid binds with the same affinity as RA to these proteins. DDRA, however, showed higher affinity than RA for RXR alpha. Evaluation of the transcriptional activation potential of DDRA in CV-1 cells showed that this retinoid induced RAR alpha-mediated transcription to the same magnitude as RA in the 10(-9) to 10(-6) M concentration range. However, in comparison to RA, DDRA produced a 2- to 3-fold higher activation of the transcription mediated by RXR alpha homodimers, as well as RAR beta-RXR alpha heterodimers. These results suggest that the biological activity of retinoids in the skin may be attained through the joint potential of both RA and DDRA.