A Novel Cytoplasmic Protein That Interacts with the Ah Receptor, Contains Tetratricopeptide Repeat Motifs, and Augments the Transcriptional Response to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

To identify new proteins involved in dioxin-dependent signal transduction and transcriptional regulation, we used a yeast two-hybrid system to identify proteins that interact with the Ah receptor (AhR). We cloned a mouse cDNA, which encodes a novel approximately 37-kDa protein that binds to AhR; we have designated the protein as Ah receptor-interacting protein (AIP). The amino acid sequence of mouse AIP exhibits homology with members of the FK506-binding protein family. AIP also contains three tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) motifs; the TPR sequence is present in proteins required for cell cycle control and RNA synthesis and in steroid receptor-binding immunophilins. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments in mouse hepatoma cells reveal that AIP is cytoplasmic and associates with unliganded Ah receptor and with hsp90; 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin treatment disrupts the AhR-AIP-hsp90 interaction. Overexpression of AIP augments the response of the CYP1A1 gene to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. Our data suggest that AIP influences ligand receptivity and/or nuclear targeting of AhR.