Aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling involves in the human intestinal ILC3/ILC1 conversion in the inflamed terminal ileum of Crohn’s disease patients

ILC3s and ILC1s had differential AHR expression. This AHR signaling mediated CD117 expression on the surface of ILC3s. The conversion from ILC3 to ILC1 was accompanied by the downregulation of AHR expression. We further observed that there was a disparity between AHR protein expression and mRNA expression in the inflamed terminal ileum tissues of CD patients compared to unaffected areas. These findings suggest that AHR pathway is also important for human intestinal ILC phenotype regulation and impaired AHR signaling in the inflamed gut of CD patients possibly contributes to the ILC3/ILC1 conversion.