An overview of the supergene family made up of those nuclear hormone receptors which recognize thyroid and steroid hormones, vitamen D and retinoic acid and which are characterized by their ability to bind both ligands and the genes which respond to them.

Nuclear Receptors focuses on the structural analysis of nuclear receptors from the initial work using isolated protein domains to the more recent exciting developments investigating the conformational shape of full-length receptor complexes. The book also reviews the structure of key nuclear receptor co-regulatory proteins. It brings together, for the first time, a comprehensive review of nuclear receptor structure and the importance of receptor conformation underpinning allosteric regulation by different ligands (hormone, drugs, DNA response elements, protein-protein interactions) and receptor activity. The nuclear receptor superfamily, including receptors for steroid hormones and non-steroid ligands, are pivotal to normal physiology, regulating processes as diverse as reproduction, metabolism, the immune system and brain development. The first members of the family were cloned over 25 years ago, which heralded in the idea of a superfamily of intracellular receptor proteins that bound small molecule ligands: classical steroid hormones, vitamins, fatty acids and other products of metabolism. These signals are then transmitted through multiprotein receptor-DNA complexes, leading to the regulation of target genes, often in a cell-selective manner. The cloning of the receptor cDNAs also ushered in an era of unparalleled analysis of the mechanisms of action of these ligand-activated transcription factors. ​

How sex hormone receptors and all the other members of the nuclear receptor superfamily do such a remarkable job has fascinated scientists for decades. A series of discoveries in the past few years has dramatically enlightened our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern nuclear receptor action. The elucidation of the 3D structures of several nuclear receptor ligand binding domains in the presence of agonists or antagonists has provided an allosteric concept of ligand action, and the discovery of a plethora of ligand-dependent protein interactions has linked this transconformation with the ability of nuclear receptors to act as transcriptional activators and repressors and the enzymatic modification of chromatin and factors of the basal transcriptional machinery.

The purpose of this book is to provide a contemporary overview of the causes and consequences of prostate cancer from a cellular and genetic perspective. Written by experts in the fields of epidemiology, toxicology, cell biology, genetics, genomics, cell-cell interactions, cell signaling, hormone signaling, and transcriptional regulation, the text covers aspects of prostate cancer from disease initiation to metastasis. Chapters explore in depth the cells of origin for prostate cancer, its genomic subtypes, neural transcription factors in disease progression, epigenetic regulation of chromatin, and many other topics. This book distinguishes itself from other texts on prostate cancer by its focus on cellular and genetic mechanisms, as opposed to clinical diagnosis and management. As a result, this book will be of broad interest to basic and translational scientists with familiarity of these topics, as well as to trainees at earlier stages of their research careers.