Inhibition of androgen receptor-dependent transcriptional activity by DDT isomers and methoxychlor in HepG2 human hepatoma cells.

Recent reports have raised new concerns that chemicals in our environment may disrupt normal reproduction and development through inhibition of androgen receptor function. This heightened concern has also increased our need for methods that allow us to characterize chemical interaction with the androgen receptor. In this report we describe an androgen receptor assay that utilizes the HepG2 human hepatoma cell line transiently transfected with the human androgen receptor and an androgen-responsive reporter. We used this assay to characterize the interaction with the androgen receptor of several steroidal and nonsteroidal chemicals, including isomers of DDT and methoxychlor. Chemicals were tested either in the absence (for determining agonist activity) or presence of 10(-7) M dihydrotestosterone (for determining antagonist activity). Testosterone and dihydrotestosterone were equally potent agonists in this assay. Estradiol and progesterone displayed partial agonist/antagonist activity. Flutamide was a complete agonist, whereas its hydroxylated metabolite, hydroxyflutamide, only partially antagonized and displayed some agonist activity at 10(-6) M and above. o,p'-DDT, o,p'-DDE, o,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, and p, p'-DDD all behaved as antagonists at concentrations above 10(-6) M. p,p'-DDE also showed some agonist activity at 10(-5) M. Methoxychlor was only weakly antagonistic while its hydroxylated metabolite, HPTE, was approximately 10-fold more potent. Our results demonstrate that the HepG2 assay is a sensitive and specific method for detecting chemical interaction with the androgen receptor. This reporter gene assay, which we have used to characterize interaction with both the estrogen and androgen receptors, coupled with more extensive in vivo studies, should be useful for determining the role of multiple steroid receptors in the mechanism of action of endocrine active chemicals.