Expression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor in bone tissues

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor responsive to environmental compounds such as dioxin. AhR signal has been known as xenobiotic receptor or xenobiotic sensor. Recently, the roles of AhR through the induction of cytokines come into focus. In bone tissues, AhR and its signaling pathway are detected in both osteoblasts and osteoclasts. In vitro and in vivo studies have been suggested that AhR signal mediates osteogenesis via cytokine signal in human bone as well as experimental animals. In this short review, we focused on the importance of AhR in bone and hard tissues.