The marionette mechanism of domain–domain communication in the antagonist, agonist, and coactivator responses of the estrogen receptor

Abstract

The human estrogen receptor α (hER α ) is involved in the regulation of growth, development, and tissue homeostasis. Agonists that bind to the receptor’s ligand-binding domain (LBD) lead to recruitment of coactivators and the enhancement of gene expression. In contrast, antagonists bind to the LBD and block the binding of coactivators thus decreasing gene expressions. In this work, we carry out simulations using the AWSEM (Associative memory, Water mediated, Structure and Energy Model)-Suite force field along with the 3SPN.2C force field for DNA to predict the structure of hER α and study its dynamics when binding to DNA and coactivators. Using simulations of antagonist-bound hER α and agonist-bound hER α by themselves and also along with bound DNA and coactivators, principal component analyses and free energy landscape analyses capture the pathway of domain–domain communication for agonist-bound hER α . This communication is mediated through the hinge domains that are ordinarily intrinsically disordered. These disordered segments manipulate the hinge domains much like the strings of a marionette as they twist in different ways when antagonists or agonists are bound to the ligand-binding domain.