Aryl hydrocarbon receptor and liver fibrosis

Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation

Sustained aryl hydrocarbon receptor activity attenuates liver regeneration.

In hepatocyte-derived cell lines, either loss of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) function or treatment with a persistent AhR agonist such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) can disrupt G1 phase cell cycle progression. The present study used liver regeneration to explore mechanistically how AhR activity modulates hepatocyte proliferation in vivo. Treatment of mice with 20 mug/kg TCDD ...

Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor and Stem Cells

From the biochemical point of view, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a highly conserved, developmentally regulated, and ligand-activated member of the bHLH/PAS family of transcription factors. The AHR was originally discovered because of the human and animal toxicity of its most potent and persistent ligand, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-pdioxin, usually just referred to as “dioxin.” The can...

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor and lung cancer.

The leading cause of lung cancer is exposure to cigarette smoke and other environmental pollutants, which include formaldehyde, acrolein, benzene, dioxin, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs and dioxins are exogenous ligands that directly bind to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a transcription factor that activates xenobiotic metabolism, histone modification (an important ste...

The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor and Tumor Immunity

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is an important cytosolic, ligand-dependent transcription factor. Emerging evidence suggests the promoting role of the AhR in the initiation, promotion, progression, invasion, and metastasis of cancer cells. Studies on various tumor types and tumor cell lines have shown high AhR expression, suggesting that AhR is activated constitutively in tumors and facilit...