Title: Aryl hydrocarbon receptor, cell cycle regulation, toxicity, and tumorigenesis.
Authors: Marlowe, Jennifer L; Puga, Alvaro
Published In J Cell Biochem, (2005 Dec 15)
Abstract: Most effects of exposure to halogenated and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are mediated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). It has long been recognized that the AHR is a ligand-activated transcription factor that plays a central role in the induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes and hence in xenobiotic detoxification. Of late, it has become evident that outside this well-characterized role, the AHR also functions as a modulator of cellular signaling pathways. In this Prospect, we discuss the involvement of the AHR in pathways critical to cell cycle regulation, mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades, immediate-early gene induction, and the functions of the RB protein. Ultimately, the toxicity of AHR xenobiotic ligands may be intrinsically connected with the perturbation of these pathways and depend on the many critical signaling pathways and effectors with which the AHR itself interacts.
PubMed ID: 16211578
MeSH Terms: Animals; Apoptosis/drug effects; Cell Cycle/drug effects; Cell Cycle/physiology*; Genes, Tumor Suppressor/drug effects*; Humans; Ligands; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon/antagonists & inhibitors; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon/metabolism; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon/physiology*; Signal Transduction/drug effects; Signal Transduction/physiology; Xenobiotics/pharmacology