Obesity Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Obesity, including details on health, diet, prevention, exercise.

RAR and RXR modulation in cancer and metabolic disease.

Altucci L, Leibowitz MD, Ogilvie KM, de Lera AR, Gronemeyer H

Dipartimento di Patologia Generale, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Vico Luigi de Crecchio 7, 80138 Napoli, Italy.

Retinoic acid receptors (RARs) are ligand-controlled transcription factors that function as heterodimers with retinoid X receptors (RXRs) to regulate cell growth and survival. The success of RAR modulation in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) has stimulated considerable interest in the development of RAR and RXR modulators. This has been aided by recent advances in the understanding of the biological role of RARs and RXRs and in the design of selective receptor modulators that might overcome the limitations of current drugs. Here, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for therapeutic strategies based on RXR and RAR modulators, with a focus on cancer and metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

Published 1 October 2007 in Nat Rev Drug Discov, 6(10): 793-810.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Obesity Research Today. All Rights Reserved.