The February 2014, Vol. 137, Issue 2 of Toxicological Sciences is now available online. To have the email Table of Contents (eTOC) alerts delivered to you as well as Advance Access notification of the latest papers and research in Toxicological Sciences as soon as they are accepted and posted to the website, please register online.
The paper selected for the Editor's Highlight in this issue is Differential Consequences of Two Distinct AhR Ligands on Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses to Influenza A Virus by Jennifer L. H. Wheeler, Kyle C. Martin, Emily Resseguie, and B. Paige Lawrence. Prepared by Editor–in–Chief Gary W. Miller, the Highlight notes that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) holds a high place in the annals of toxicology, but its function still eludes us. In the paper by Wheeler and coworkers (137, 324–334), the authors explore the role of AhR activation on immune system regulation. Specifically, the group treated animals with the synthetic TCDD (a.k.a. dioxin) or the naturally-derived FICZ (photooxidation product of tryptophan) and tested the response to the common respiratory virus, influenza A. One might expect that AhR activation, regardless of the ligand, would lead to similar immunomodulatory response, but this was not the case. In initial studies, TCDD altered a range of host immune responses, but FICZ was without effect. After duration of receptor activation was controlled for, there was still a divergent response suggesting that other mechanisms, such as the type of cells in which the receptor is activated, may be involved."
Toxicological Sciences, the official journal of SOT, is among the most highly cited original research journals in Toxicology.