Exactly the Same but Different: Promiscuity and Diversity in the Molecular Mechanisms of Action of the Aryl Hydrocarbon (Dioxin) Receptor

The Ah receptor (AhR) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor that mediates a wide range of biological and toxicological effects that result from exposure to a structurally diverse variety of synthetic and naturally occurring chemicals. Although the overall mechanism of action of the AhR has been extensively studied and involves a classical nuclear receptor mechanism of action (i.e., ligand-dependent nuclear localization, protein heterodimerization, binding of liganded receptor as a protein complex to its specific DNA recognition sequence and activation of gene expression), details of the exact molecular events that result in most AhR-dependent biochemical, physiological, and toxicological effects are…

• CA
  Chinese Academy of Sciences
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• DO
  Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California