The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) was discovered as the intracellular receptor that bound with high affinity to the environmental toxicant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), and the AhR is required for mediating the toxicity induced by TCDD. Subsequent studies show that the AhR binds structurally diverse chemicals including plant-derived compounds that promote health and several AhR-active pharmaceuticals that exhibit anticancer activity. In this issue, there is a report that carbidopa, a drug used for treating Parkinson's disease, is also an AhR ligand, and this compound inhibits pancreatic cancer cell and tumor growth. These results are consistent with activities of other AhR-active compounds that inhibit carcinogenesis. Like carbidopa, these chemicals are selective AhR modulators with potential clinical applications that are AhR-dependent.
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November 2017
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Cover Image
A 3D rendering of a mitochondrion. In this issue of the Biochemical Journal, Monteuuis et al. report that a conserved mammalian mitochondrial isoform of acetyl-CoA carboxylase ACC1 provides the malonyl-CoA essential for mitochondrial biogenesis in tandem with the mitochondrial malonyl-CoA synthetase ACSF3; see pages 3783–3797 for details.
Commentary|
November 06 2017
Carbidopa: a selective Ah receptor modulator (SAhRM)
Stephen Safe
1Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, U.S.A.
Correspondence: Stephen Safe (ssafe@cvm.tamu.edu)
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
September 18 2017
Revision Received:
September 25 2017
Accepted:
September 27 2017
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2017
Biochem J (2017) 474 (22): 3763–3765.
Article history
Received:
September 18 2017
Revision Received:
September 25 2017
Accepted:
September 27 2017
Connected Content
This is a commentary on:
Carbidopa is an activator of aryl hydrocarbon receptor with potential for cancer therapy
Citation
Stephen Safe; Carbidopa: a selective Ah receptor modulator (SAhRM). Biochem J 15 November 2017; 474 (22): 3763–3765. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20170728
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