The aryl hydrocarbon receptor and the gut-brain axis

Andreia Barroso; João Vitor Mahler; Pedro Henrique Fonseca-Castro; Francisco J Quintana

doi:10.1038/s41423-020-00585-5

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor and the gut-brain axis

Cell Mol Immunol. 2021 Feb;18(2):259-268. doi: 10.1038/s41423-020-00585-5. Epub 2021 Jan 6.

Authors

Andreia Barroso¹, João Vitor Mahler^#^{1

2}, Pedro Henrique Fonseca-Castro^#^{1

2}, Francisco J Quintana^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
² Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
³ Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. [email protected].
⁴ Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor initially identified as the receptor for dioxin. Almost half a century after its discovery, AHR is now recognized as a receptor for multiple physiological ligands, with important roles in health and disease. In this review, we discuss the role of AHR in the gut-brain axis and its potential value as a therapeutic target for immune-mediated diseases.

Keywords: Aryl hydrocarbon receptor; Autoimmune diseases; Infectious diseases; cancer.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Autoimmune Diseases / immunology
Autoimmune Diseases / metabolism
Autoimmune Diseases / pathology*
Brain-Gut Axis*
Gene Expression Regulation*
Humans
Immune System / immunology*
Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / metabolism*

Substances

Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon

Grants and funding

R01 NS102807/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States