The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is well-known for its major contributions to the cellular responses against environmental toxins and carcinogens. Notably, AhR has also emerged as a key transcription factor controlling many physiological processes including cell proliferation and apoptosis, differentiation, adhesion and migration, pluripotency and stemness. These novel functions have broadened our understanding of the signalling pathways and molecular intermediates interacting with AhR under both homeostatic and pathological conditions. Recent discoveries link AhR with the function of essential organs such as liver, skin and gonads, and with complex organismal structures including the immune and cardiovascular systems. The identification of potential endogenous ligands able to regulate AhR activity, opens the possibility of designing ad hoc molecules with pharmacological and/or therapeutic value to treat human diseases in which AhR may have a causal role. Integration of experimental data from in vitro and in vivo studies with “omic” analyses of human patients affected with cancer, immune diseases, inflammation or neurological disorders will likely contribute to validate the clinical relevance of AhR and the possible benefits of modulating its activity by pharmacologically-driven strategies. In this review, we will highlight signalling pathways involved in human diseases that could be targetable by AhR modulators and discuss the feasibility of using such molecules in therapy. The pros and cons of AhR-aimed approaches will be also mentioned.

芳烃受体（AhR）因其对细胞对环境毒素和致癌物的反应做出的主要贡献而闻名。值得注意的是，AhR也已成为控制许多生理过程的关键转录因子，这些过程包括细胞增殖和凋亡，分化，粘附和迁移，多能性和干性。这些新功能拓宽了我们对在稳态和病理条件下与AhR相互作用的信号通路和分子中间体的理解。最近的发现将AhR与肝脏，皮肤和性腺等重要器官的功能以及包括免疫和心血管系统在内的复杂生物结构联系起来。鉴定能够调节AhR活性的潜在内源性配体为设计提供了可能性特设分子具有药理和/或治疗价值，其中的AhR可具有因果作用治疗人类疾病。将来自体外和体内研究的实验数据与对患有癌症，免疫疾病，炎症或神经系统疾病的人类患者进行的“ omic ”分析相结合，将可能有助于验证AhR的临床相关性以及通过药理学来调节其活性的可能益处。驱动的策略。在这篇综述中，我们将重点介绍AhR调节剂可靶向的涉及人类疾病的信号传导途径，并讨论在治疗中使用此类分子的可行性。的优点和缺点 还将提及AhR瞄准的方法。