The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcriptional factor (TF) that is a member of the Per-Arnt-Sim family of proteins. AhR regulates diverse processes, including malignant transformation, hematopoietic cell development, and fate determination of immune cell lineages. Moreover, AhR forms a crucial link between innate and adaptive arms of the immune system. Malignant cells frequently evolve multiple mechanisms for suppressing tumor-specific responses, including the induction of suppressive pathways involving AhR and its metabolic byproducts in the tumor microenvironment that promote immune evasion and tumor progression. Thus, interest is high in further defining the role of AhR in carcinogenesis and immune development and regulation, particularly regarding the therapeutic interventions that unleash immune responses to cancer cells. Here, we provide an overview of the role of AhR in the regulation of innate and adaptive immune response and discuss the implications of targeting this pathway to augment the immune response in cancer patients.

中文翻译：

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AhR在免疫细胞发育和功能的转录调控中的作用。

芳基烃受体（AhR）是配体激活的转录因子（TF），是Per-Arnt-Sim蛋白家族的成员。AhR调节多种过程，包括恶性转化，造血细胞发育以及免疫细胞谱系的最终确定。而且，AhR在免疫系统的先天性臂与适应性臂之间形成了至关重要的联系。恶性细胞经常进化出多种抑制肿瘤特异性反应的机制，包括在肿瘤微环境中诱导涉及AhR及其代谢副产物的抑制途径的诱导，从而促进免疫逃逸和肿瘤进展。因此，人们对进一步确定AhR在致癌性以及免疫发育和调节中的作用非常感兴趣，特别是关于释放对癌细胞的免疫反应的治疗性干预措施。在这里，我们概述了AhR在调节先天性和适应性免疫应答中的作用，并讨论了靶向该途径以增强癌症患者免疫应答的意义。