Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will address cutting-edge scientific topics in the field of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) research. One of the most fascinating highlights in immunology during the past decade was the discovery of the role of AhR in immune regulation. Although there are still many open questions there is no doubt that AhR may be seen as a key player in the control of inflammation as well as in cancer. However, the most prominent role of AhR is maintaining the immune homeostasis at epithelial barriers through the induction of interleukin (IL)-22.

The tremendous findings on the immunoregulatory functions of AhR achieved so far have inspired many researches in translational medicine to develop potential therapeutic applications for AhR agonists or antagonists. There is evidence from many reports that AhR agonists might be promising alternatives to conventional anti-inflammatory drugs for treatment of inflammatory diseases. The most prominent idea concerns to therapeutic application of AhR agonists in inflammatory bowel disease. Another interesting approach is the prevention of septic shock in acute systemic bacterial infection through an AhR agonist. In contrast, AhR antagonists are considered as promising novel anti-cancer drugs.

However, there are still many open questions on the detailed mechanisms of action of AhR in different physiological and pathological situations as well as on the differences between individual AhR ligands (e.g., toxic vs. non-toxic ligands). While there is solid knowledge on canonical effects of AhR activation (i.e., induction of CYPs, IL-22, IL-21R, IRF-1, IDO2, etc.), more recent findings revealed a couple of important non-canonical pathways induced through AhR activation (i.e., induction of IL-10, FcgRI, IL-12Rb1, CD84, type I and type II interferons etc.). The importance of individual canonical or non-canonical effects for certain physiological or pathological functions of AhR have to be elucidated as essential precondition for the development of safe and efficient AhR-directed therapies.

This Special Issue addresses all aspects of AhR research, fundamental as well as translational research objectives, mechanistic as well as pharmacological questions.

Dr. Jörg Lehmann
Guest Editor

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