Ectopic Expression of Human, Mouse, and Fruit Fly Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in Drosophila melanogaster Tissues

Abstract—The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor and its target genes play a fundamental role in detoxification, regulation of developmental processes, maintenance of homeostasis, and in the occurrence of oncological and autoimmune diseases and drug metabolism. The high conservatism of vertebrate AHR allowed us to study its functions in vivo using transformed Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies with human or mouse AHR gene and compare the ectopic effect of their expression with the expression of spineless gene, Drosophila AHR homologue. This work demonstrates for the first time that vertebrate AHR exhibits its functional activity in Drosophila embryogenesis, in leg imaginal discs, and in somatic cells of the female reproductive system in the absence of exogenous ligands.