Promotion of Bladder Cancer Cell Metastasis by 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole via Its Activation of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Transcription: Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Cell-Based Assays, and Machine Learning-Driven Prediction.

Abstract

2-Mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) is an industrial chemical widely used for rubber products, corrosion inhibitors, and polymer materials with multiple environmental and exposure pathways. A growing body of evidence suggests its potential bladder cancer (BC) risk as a public health concern; however, the molecular mechanism remains poorly understood. Herein, we demonstrate the activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) by MBT and reveal key events in carcinogenesis associated with BC. MBT alters conformational changes of AhR ligand binding domain (LBD) as revealed by 500 ns molecular dynamics simulations and activates AhR transcription with upregulation of AhR-target genes CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 to approximately 1.5-fold. MBT upregulates the expression of MMP1, the cancer cell metastasis biomarker, to 3.2-fold and promotes BC cell invasion through an AhR-mediated manner. MBT is further revealed to induce differentially expressed genes (DEGs) most enriched in cancer pathways by transcriptome profiling. The exposure of MBT at environmentally relevant concentrations induces BC risk via AhR signaling disruption, transcriptome aberration, and malignant cell metastasis. A machine learning-based model with an AUC value of 0.881 is constructed to successfully predict 31 MBT analogues. Overall, we provide molecular insight into the BC risk of MBT and develop an effective tool for rapid screening of AhR agonists.

• Authors: Jiachen Zhang, Shixuan Cui, Lilai Shen, Yuchen Gao, Weiping Liu, Chunlong Zhang, Shulin Zhuang
• Journal: Environmental science & technology (Environ Sci Technol) Vol. 56 Issue 18 Pg. 13254-13263 (09 20 2022) ISSN: 1520-5851 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 36087060 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Benzothiazoles
• Biomarkers
• Ligands
• Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon
• captax
• Rubber
• Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1
• Matrix Metalloproteinase 1

Topics

• Benzothiazoles
• Biomarkers
• Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 (genetics, metabolism)
• Humans
• Ligands
• Machine Learning
• Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 (metabolism)
• Molecular Dynamics Simulation
• Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon (metabolism)
• Rubber
• Urinary Bladder Neoplasms