Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41203070›Full record

ArticleJournal of advanced research2026

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor inhibits antigen presentation to promote progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Wentong Mei, Yixuan Ding, Chunjing Bian, Yuchen Jia, Chang Qu, Zhen Fang, Jie Li, Shuang Liu, Haichen Sun, Xiaoqing Xu and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of advanced research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Wentong MeiDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China; Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, China.
Yixuan DingDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China.
Chunjing BianDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China.
Yuchen JiaDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China.
Chang QuDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China.
Zhen FangDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China.
Jie LiDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China.
Shuang LiuDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China.
Haichen SunDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China.
Xiaoqing XuDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China. Electronic address: xiaoqingxu@cams.cn.
Jia LiDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China. Electronic address: lij@xwhosp.org.
Fei LiDepartment of General Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Beijing, China. Electronic address: feili36@ccmu.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) plays a pivotal role in modulating immune responses and influencing tumor development by detecting metabolites derived from tryptophan breakdown. In patients suffering from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), elevated levels of AhR are strongly correlated with poor clinical outcomes. Despite this, the cell-autonomous functions of AhR in pancreatic tumor cells, particularly its role in modulating anti-tumor immunity within the tumor microenvironment, remain poorly characterized and require further investigation.

methodsCRISPR-Cas9 technology was used to generate Ahr

resultsElevated AhR levels in PDAC patients correlate with worse outcomes. AhR protein is located in both cytoplasm and nucleus of tumor cells. Deletion of Ahr in Pan02 and B16-F10 leads to a significant upregulation of MHC-I and related gene expression. AhR drives tumor growth by suppressing T cell-mediated immunity. Mechanistically, AhR specifically suppressed MHC-I expression in pancreatic tumor cells by interacting with protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) to decrease chromatin accessibility, which led to impaired antigen presentation. We demonstrated that AhR inhibition improved the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade, chemotherapy, and PRMT5-targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer models.

conclusionsTumor cell intrinsic AhR inhibits MHC-I expression in PDAC cells by epigenetic regulation mediated by PRMT5, resulting in reduced immunogenicity of pancreatic tumor cells. The discovery of the AhR-PRMT5-H4R3me2s-MHC-I axis provides critical mechanistic insights into how tumor-intrinsic epigenetic regulation of antigen presentation promotes the progression of PDAC.

Indexed as

Antigen PresentationBasic Helix-Loop-Helix ProteinsCarcinoma, Pancreatic DuctalPancreatic NeoplasmsReceptors, Aryl HydrocarbonAnimalsCell Line, TumorDisease ProgressionGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansMiceMice, Inbred C57BLTumor MicroenvironmentBasic Helix-Loop-Helix ProteinsReceptors, Aryl HydrocarbonAryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)Chromatin accessibilityMHC-ⅠPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRTM5)

Identifiers

PMID41203070
PMCPMC13453838

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.