Bidirectional communication between the Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) and the microbiome tunes host metabolism

Understanding how a protein responds to chemicals produced by microorganisms in the gut may lead to new treatments for metabolic disorders. Sven Pettersson of the LKC School of Medicine, NTU in Singapore led an international research team studying the aryl-hydrocarbon-receptor protein (AhR), which binds to specific pollutants and chemicals produced by microorganisms, thereby traveling to the cell nucleus and changing the activity of various genes. The researchers found evidence of gut microbes activating AhR in mouse intestinal and liver cells, coupled with feedback effects that changed the microbial populations in the gut. This two-way influence between microbes and host cells may be involved in metabolic disorders in which gut microbes play a part. If such involvement is confirmed, drugs that interfere with AhR may have potential for treating metabolic diseases.