The hepatic Ah receptor for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin: species differences in subunit dissociation

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, dioxin) produces many of its biological effects by binding to a soluble, intracellular protein (the Ah receptor (AhR]. The hepatic AhR, from a variety of species, is present in low salt cytosol as a form which sediments at 8-10 S. High salt (0.4 M KCL) dissociates the rat, guinea pig, and rabbit cytosolic TCDD:AhR complex to a form which sediments at 5-6 S. In contrast, high salt conditions failed to dissociate the 8-10 S TCDD:AhR complex present in any of the mouse strains studied. Incubation of cytosol with heparin resulted in a shift of the [3H]TCDD:AhR complex to a smaller sedimenting form in all species. Mouse TCDD:AhR complex sedimented at 8-10 S when cytosol was simultaneously incubated with high salt and heparin, indicating that the interaction of heparin with the AhR was electrostatic in nature. Incubation of heparin-dissociated mouse TCDD:AhR complex (5-6 S) with high salt resulted in reassociation of AhR to a form which sediments at 8-10 S. Our data suggests that the resistance of mouse AhR to salt-mediated dissociation may be due to a property of the receptor protein itself and also indicates that mouse hepatic cytosolic AhR is distinctly different from that present in all other species examined to date.