Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 May:185:50-63.
doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2017.12.003. Epub 2017 Dec 16.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor in the crossroad of signalling networks with therapeutic value

Ángel C Roman  1 , José M Carvajal-Gonzalez  2 , Jaime M Merino  2 , Sonia Mulero-Navarro  3 , Pedro M Fernández-Salguero  4
Affiliations
Review

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor in the crossroad of signalling networks with therapeutic value

Ángel C Roman et al. Pharmacol Ther. 2018 May.

Abstract

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is well-known for its major contributions to the cellular responses against environmental toxins and carcinogens. Notably, AhR has also emerged as a key transcription factor controlling many physiological processes including cell proliferation and apoptosis, differentiation, adhesion and migration, pluripotency and stemness. These novel functions have broadened our understanding of the signalling pathways and molecular intermediates interacting with AhR under both homeostatic and pathological conditions. Recent discoveries link AhR with the function of essential organs such as liver, skin and gonads, and with complex organismal structures including the immune and cardiovascular systems. The identification of potential endogenous ligands able to regulate AhR activity, opens the possibility of designing ad hoc molecules with pharmacological and/or therapeutic value to treat human diseases in which AhR may have a causal role. Integration of experimental data from in vitro and in vivo studies with "omic" analyses of human patients affected with cancer, immune diseases, inflammation or neurological disorders will likely contribute to validate the clinical relevance of AhR and the possible benefits of modulating its activity by pharmacologically-driven strategies. In this review, we will highlight signalling pathways involved in human diseases that could be targetable by AhR modulators and discuss the feasibility of using such molecules in therapy. The pros and cons of AhR-aimed approaches will be also mentioned.

Keywords: AhR signalling; AhR-driven therapy; Aryl hydrocarbon receptor; “Omic” analyses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

-