Insights from the structure of estrogen receptor into the evolution of estrogens: Implications for endocrine disruption

In the last decade, there has been important progress in understanding the origins and evolution of receptors for adrenal steroids (aldosterone, cortisol) and sex steroids (estradiol, progesterone, testosterone) due to the sequencing of genomes from animals that are at key sites in vertebrate evolution. Although the estrogen receptor [ER] appears to be the ancestral vertebrate steroid receptor and estradiol [E2] is the physiological ligand for vertebrate ERs, the identity of the ancestral ligand(s) for the ER remains unknown. Here, using an analysis of crystal structures of human ERα with E2 and other chemicals and 3D models of human ERα with 27-hydroxycholesterol and 5-androsten-3β,17β-diol, I propose that one or more Δ5 steroids were the ancestral ligands for the ER, with E2 evolving later as the canonical estrogen. The evidence that chemicals with a β-hydroxy at C3 in a saturated A ring can act as estrogens and the conformational flexibility of the vertebrate ER can explain the diversity of synthetic chemicals that disrupt estrogen responses by binding to vertebrate ERs.

Human ERα has conformational flexibility that permits binding of chemicals with diverse structures.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide