Targeting the aryl hydrocarbon receptor with FICZ regulates IL-2 and immune infiltration to alleviate Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in mice

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is the most frequent autoimmune disorder. Growing work points to the involvement of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a ligand-dependent transcription factor, in the regulation of immune homeostasis. However, the roles of AhR and its ligands in HT remains unclear. In this study, we leveraged public human database analyses to postulate that the AhR expression was predominantly in thyroid follicular cells, correlating significantly with the thyroid infiltration levels of multiple immune cells in HT patients. Using a thyroglobulin-induced HT mouse model and in vitro thyroid follicular epithelial cell cultures, we found a significant downregulation of AhR expression in thyrocytes both in vivo and in vitro. Conversely, activating AhR by FICZ, a natural AhR ligand, mitigated inflammation and apoptosis in thyrocytes in vitro and conferred protection against HT in mice. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of thyroid tissues indicated that AhR activation moderated HT-associated immune or inflammatory signatures. Further, immunoinfiltration analysis indicated that AhR activation regulated immune cell infiltration in the thyroid of HT mice, such as suppressing cytotoxic CD8+ T cell infiltration and promoting anti-inflammatory M2 macrophage polarization. Concomitantly, the expression levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2), a lymphokine that downregulates immune responses, were typically decreased in HT but restored upon AhR activation. In silico validation substantiated the binding interaction between AhR and IL-2. In conclusion, targeting the AhR with FICZ regulates IL-2 and immune infiltration to alleviate experimental HT, shedding new light on the therapeutic intervention of this prevalent disease.