Old Receptor, New Tricks-The Ever-Expanding Universe of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Functions. Report from the 4th AHR Meeting, 29⁻31 August 2018 in Paris, France

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 19; no. 11; p. 3603
• Main Authors: Esser, Charlotte, Lawrence, B Paige, Sherr, David H, Perdew, Gary H, Puga, Alvaro, Barouki, Robert, Coumoul, Xavier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15.11.2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Aging; Animals; Aromatic compounds; Audiences; Autoimmune diseases; Autoimmunity; Bacteria; barrier organs; Cancer; Cellular Senescence; Conference Report; development; Diet; Drug development; Ecology, environment; environmental health; Evolution, Molecular; Gastrointestinal Tract - pathology; Health; Human health and pathology; Humans; Hydrocarbons; immunity; Inflammatory bowel disease; Life Sciences; Ligands; Metabolism; Metabolites; Mice; Neoplasms - metabolism; Neoplasms - pathology; nervous system; Obesity; Obesity - pathology; Paris; Physiology; Proteins; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon - genetics; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon - metabolism; Skin diseases; Stem cells; Stem Cells - metabolism; Thermogenesis; Toxicology; transcription factor; Transcription factors; Translation; translational science; Xenobiotics; Paris; France; United States > US; Germany; Paris France; stem cells; transcription factor; development; nervous system; barrier organs; cancer; diet; immunity; environmental health; obesity; translational science
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms19113603

In a time where "translational" science has become a mantra in the biomedical field, it is reassuring when years of research into a biological phenomenon suddenly points towards novel prevention or therapeutic approaches to disease, thereby demonstrating once again that basic science and translational science are intimately linked. The studies on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) discussed here provide a perfect example of how years of basic toxicological research on a molecule, whose normal physiological function remained a mystery for so long, has now yielded a treasure trove of actionable information on the development of targeted therapeutics. Examples are autoimmunity, metabolic imbalance, inflammatory skin and gastro-intestinal diseases, cancer, development and perhaps ageing. Indeed, the AHR field no longer asks, "What does this receptor do in the absence of xenobiotics?" It now asks, "What doesn't this receptor do?".