Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships for Polychlorinated Hydroxybiphenyl Estrogen Receptor Binding Affinity: An Assessment of Conformer Flexibility

A diverse group of xenobiotics has a high binding affinity to the estrogen receptor (ER), suggesting that it can accommodate large variability in ligand structure. Relationships between xenobiotic structure, binding affinity, and estrogenic response have been suggested to be dependent on the conformational structures of the ligands. To explore the influence of conformational flexibility on ER binding affinity, a quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) study was undertaken with estradiol, diethylstilbestrol, and a set of polychlorinated hydroxybiphenyls (PCHBs) of environmental concern. Although the low-energy minima of the PCHB congeners suggested that interconversions among conformers were likely, the electronic parameters associated with the conformer geometries for a specific PCHB congener could vary significantly. The results of the QSAR analysis suggested that among the PCHBs studied, the most polarizable conformers (lower absolute volume polarizability values) were most closely associated with ER binding affinity. Across the set of ‘‘polarizable’’ conformers, which did not include the low-energy gas-phase conformers, the electron donating properties of the hydroxy moiety and the aromatic component of the estradiol A ring analogue in the PCHBs were found to be correlated with higher ER binding affinity. Keywords—Quantitative structure–activity relationships Conformational searching Polychlorinated hydroxybiphenyls Estradiol Estrogen receptor