Role of aryl-hydrocarbon receptor in malignant transformation of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-overexpressing breast cancer

Abstract

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a transcription factor, is well known to translocate from cytoplasm to nucleus by binding of its ligands. We have found the increased expression of AhR and its constitutive activation in a human epithelial growth factor (HER) 2-overexpressing breast cancer cell line. Further, HER2 signal activation shows AhR-mediated induction of inflammatory cytokine. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated AhR-dependent alterations in open chromatin regions by ATAC-seq method to elucidate the mechanism of malignant transformation of HER2-positve breast cancer cells.