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The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a cytoplasmatic sensor of diverse endogenous and
exogenous substances. In a toxicological context, the former known as “dioxin receptor” has
been investigated as a xenobiotic chemoreceptor and due to its roles in mediating
carcinogenesis, endocrine disruption, among other immunological, hepatic, cardiovascular,
and dermal toxicity mechanisms. The deep physiological implications of AhR in cellular
proliferation, adhesion, division, differentiation, as well as in the reproductive, immunological
and cardiovascular homeostasis have opened a new field of research in order to harness AhR’s
pharmacological potential. Hence, AhR has become a therapeutic target of inflammatory,
infectious, malignant, and immunological conditions. Toxicological and pharmacological
fields could benefit from discovering novel AhR modulators to elucidate further on the
chemical-biological implications of this crucial transcription factor. In this Thesis, the
following objective was proposed in order to contribute to such understanding.
General Objective: Evaluate diverse chemical compounds as modulators of AhR by means of
in silico and in vitro methods.
The general objective was concretized in specific aims distributed in the five Chapters of this
Thesis as follow:
Chapter 1. Review the literature on AhR mediated effects and the existing theoretical and
experimental methods employed to study the structural and functional aspects of the receptor.
Chapter 2. Develop and experimentally validate QSAR models to predict the AhR agonist
activity of chemical compounds.
Chapter 3. Analyze the dual effects of a set of benzothiazoles as AhR modulators and
antimicrobial agents.
Chapter 4. Evaluate a novel set of triarylmethane compounds as AhR ligands.
Chapter 5. Study the AhR antagonism discovered in potentially harmful substances using
computational methods.The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a cytoplasmatic sensor of diverse endogenous and
exogenous substances. In a toxicological context, the former known as “dioxin receptor” has
been investigated as a xenobiotic chemoreceptor and due to its roles in mediating
carcinogenesis, endocrine disruption, among other immunological, hepatic, cardiovascular,
and dermal toxicity mechanisms. The deep physiological implications of AhR in cellular
proliferation, adhesion, division, differentiation, as well as in the reproductive, immunological
and cardiovascular homeostasis have opened a new field of research in order to harness AhR’s
pharmacological potential. Hence, AhR has become a therapeutic target of inflammatory,
infectious, malignant, and immunological conditions. Toxicological and pharmacological
fields could benefit from discovering novel AhR modulators to elucidate further on the
chemical-biological implications of this crucial transcription factor. In this Thesis, the
following objective was proposed in order to contribute to such understanding.
General Objective: Evaluate diverse chemical compounds as modulators of AhR by means of
in silico and in vitro methods.
The general objective was concretized in specific aims distributed in the five Chapters of this
Thesis as follow:
Chapter 1. Review the literature on AhR mediated effects and the existing theoretical and
experimental methods employed to study the structural and functional aspects of the receptor.
Chapter 2. Develop and experimentally validate QSAR models to predict the AhR agonist
activity of chemical compounds.
Chapter 3. Analyze the dual effects of a set of benzothiazoles as AhR modulators and
antimicrobial agents.
Chapter 4. Evaluate a novel set of triarylmethane compounds as AhR ligands.
Chapter 5. Study the AhR antagonism discovered in potentially harmful substances using
computational methods.
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