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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Feb 10.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2014 Jul 10;511(7508):184–190. doi: 10.1038/nature13323

Figure 2. l-kynurenine (kyn) is an endogenous AhR ligand.

Figure 2

a, Kyn competes with [3H]TCDD for binding cytosolic AhR. b, Proposed binding mode of TCDD into the homology model of PAS-B of AhR. c, Proposed binding mode of kyn (orange carbon atoms) into the homology model of PAS-B of AhR. Hydrophobic residues involved in the binding of kyn are shown as yellow sticks. Gln377 is shown in sticks with carbon atoms in gray. d, Transactivation activity of WT or G377A AhR by kyn or TCDD. e, Competition by kyn for specific binding of [3H]TCDD to cytosolic AhR from reconstituted Ahr−/− DCs, allowing for an estimated kyn IC50 value of 36.2 μM and of 21.6 μM for Ki. n = 3; means ± s.d. in one experiment of three. f–h, Ido1, Il10 and Tgfb1 transcripts. Means ± s.d. of three experiments; ** P < 0.001 (Shapiro test). i, Cyp1a1 transcripts. Compiled data (means ± s.d.) from three experiments. **P < 0.001 (Shapiro test). j, Survival curves of variously treated mice (n = 10; one of three experiments). **P < 0.001 (log-rank test).