title: Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor by structurally diverse exogenous and endogenous chemicals.
abstract: The induction of expression of genes for xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes in response to chemical insult is an adaptive response found in most organisms. In vertebrates, the AhR is one of several chemical/ligand-dependent intracellular receptors that can stimulate gene transcription in response to xenobiotics. The ability of the AhR to bind and be activated by a range of structurally divergent chemicals suggests that the AhR contains a rather promiscuous ligand binding site. In addition to synthetic and environmental chemicals, numerous naturally occurring dietary and endogenous AhR ligands have also been identified. In this review, we describe evidence for the structural promiscuity of AhR ligand binding and discuss the current state of knowledge with regards to the activation of the AhR signaling pathway by naturally occurring exogenous and endogenous ligands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA. msdenison@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Denison
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Nagy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D001685:Biological Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D019363:Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / Q000819:agonists / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D015262:Xenobiotics / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D001685:Biological Factors; D008024:Ligands; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; D015262:Xenobiotics; D019363:Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1