Abstract
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that belongs to the family of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. Although the AhR was initially recognized as the receptor mediating the pathologic effects of dioxins and other pollutants, the activation of AhR by endogenous and environmental factors has important physiologic effects, including the regulation of the immune response. Thus, the AhR provides a molecular pathway through which environmental factors modulate the immune response in health and disease. In this review, we discuss the role of AhR in the regulation of the immune response, the source and chemical nature of AhR ligands, factors controlling production and degradation of AhR ligands, and the potential to target the AhR for therapeutic immunomodulation.
Footnotes
Research in the Quintana laboratory was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [Grants AI075285 and AI093903]; the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Research in the Sherr laboratory was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [Grants P01ES11624 and P42ES007381]; and the Art beCAUSE Breast Cancer Foundation.
- Copyright © 2013 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
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