The Academy of Finland has granted funding worth 367 729 euro for the research project: ´Exploring the Physiological and Toxicological Functions of the AH Receptor: Involvement in Avoidance of Novel Food Items, Regulation of Circadian Rhytms, and Transgenerational Effects´. The project leader is professor Raimo Pohjanvirta from the Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health.
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a protein that is best-known as the mediator of the toxic effects of the environmental contaminants dioxins and PAH compounds. In recent years, it has been found out that the AHR plays important roles in normal physiological processes including liver development, heart function and immunological responses (e.g. autoimmunity). In the present set of studies, the physiological and toxicological functions of the AHR will be further explored. The focus will be on the following three phenomena:
- Possible causal relationship between hepatic induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes and a behavioral change, avoidance of novel food items
- Involvement of the AHR in regulation of circadian rhythms
- Whether or not the harmful impacts caused by activated AHR can be transmitted to future generations.
The findings of these studies can be expected to significantly further our understanding of this intriguing protein which can be both beneficial and deleterious.
The main collaborator is Dr. Paul Boutros’s research group in the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research, Toronto, Kanada.
>> The first book on the AH receptor: The AH Receptor in Biology and Toxicology