Effects of cypermethrin on the ligand-independent interaction between androgen receptor and steroid receptor coactivator-1

The pyrethroid insecticide, cypermethrin has been considered as an environmental anti-androgen by interfering with the androgen receptor (AR) transactivation. In order to clarify the effects of cypermethrin on the ligand-independent interaction between the AR and SRC-1, the mammalian two-hybrid assay has been developed in the study. The AR N-terminal domain 1-660 amino acid residues were subcloned into the plasmid pVP16 to construct the vector pVP16-ARNTD. The SRC-1 C-terminal domain 989-1240 amino acid residues were subcloned into the plasmid pM to construct the vector pM-SRC-1. The fusion vectors pVP16-ARNTD, pM-SRC-1 and the pG5CAT Reporter Vector were cotransfected into the CV-1 cells. The AR AF1 interacted with SRC-1 in the absence of exogenous ligand 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Furthermore, DHT did not enhance the interaction between AR AF-1 and SRC-1 at the concentrations from 10−10 M to 10−8 M. Cypermethrin inhibited the interaction between the AR AF1 and SRC-1, and the significant reduction was detected at the concentration of 10−5 M. It is suggested that the interaction between the AR AF1 and SRC-1 is ligand-independent. Cypermethrin inhibits AR activity by disrupting the ligand-independent AR-SRC-1 interaction.