The modern human aryl hydrocarbon receptor is more active when ancestralized by genome editing

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Vol. 121; no. 22; p. e2402159121
• Main Authors: Helmbrecht, Nelly, Lackner, Martin, Maricic, Tomislav, Pääbo, Svante
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 28.05.2024; National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: AhR gene; Amino acid substitution; Amino acids; Animals; Aromatic compounds; Aromatic hydrocarbons; Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors - genetics; Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors - metabolism; Biological Sciences; Cytochrome P450; Cytochromes P450; Divergence; Editing; Evolution, Molecular; Expression vectors; Gene Editing - methods; Gene expression; Genes; Genomes; Hominids; Humans; Hydrocarbons; Ligands; Neanderthals - genetics; Pan troglodytes - genetics; Receptors; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon - genetics; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon - metabolism; Substrates; anthropology; genetics; evolution
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2402159121

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a transcription factor that has many functions in mammals. Its best known function is that it binds aromatic hydrocarbons and induces the expression of cytochrome P450 genes, which encode enzymes that metabolize aromatic hydrocarbons and other substrates. All p...