© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Unraveling the Complexities of the Mechanism of Action of Dioxins
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, PO Box 12233, MD EC-34, 111 T. W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
For correspondence via fax: (301) 451-5596. E-mail: walker3@niehs.nih.gov.
Received November 15, 2006; accepted November 15, 2006
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
William Shakespeare (From Hamlet)
For some, the continuing saga of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) are like one of those daytime soap operas that are long past their prime and where there are no new stories to be told. For others, it is a constant source of new twists and turns, where the actors come and go on a regular basis and where, no matter how many times you watch, there are still cliffhangers to keep you watching again tomorrow. This is because no matter whether its General Hospital or Hamlet, understanding what may seem to