Endogenous regulation of the Akt pathway by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in lung fibroblasts

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor known to mediate toxic responses to dioxin. However, the role of the AhR in the regulation of cellular physiology has only recently been appreciated, including its ability to control cell cycle progression and apoptosis by unknown mechanisms. We hypothesized that the AhR enhances the activation of the AKT serine/threonine kinase (Akt) pathway to promote cell survival. Utilizing AhR knock-out (Ahr(−/−)) and wild-type (Ahr(+/+)) mouse lung fibroblasts (MLFs), we found that Ahr(−/−) MLFs have significantly higher basal Akt phosphorylation but that AhR did not affect Akt phosphorylation in MLFs exposed to growth factors or AhR ligands. Basal Akt phosphorylation was dependent on PI3K but was unaffected by changes in intracellular glutathione (GSH) or p85α. There was no significant decrease in cell viability in Ahr(−/−) MLFs treated with LY294002—a PI3K inhibitor—although LY294002 did attenuate MTT reduction, indicating an affect on mitochondrial function. Using a mass spectrometry (MS)-based approach, we identified several proteins that were differentially phosphorylated in the Ahr(−/−) MLFs compared to control cells, including proteins involved in the regulation of extracellular matrix (ECM), focal adhesion, cytoskeleton remodeling and mitochondrial function. In conclusion, Ahr ablation increased basal Akt phosphorylation in MLFs. Our results indicate that AhR may modulate the phosphorylation of a variety of novel proteins not previously identified as AhR targets, findings that help advance our understanding of the endogenous functions of AhR.