Retinoic Acid Receptors

Abstract

Retinoids, a group of structural and functional derivatives of vitamin A are known to regulate a large number of essential biological processes such as cell growth, differentiation and death. The retinoic acid (RA) signalling pathway involves the precise regulation of retinoid levels and the control of RA-dependent gene expression in target cells. The effects are mainly mediated by two types of nuclear receptors – retinoic acid receptors and retinoid X receptors – which act as ligand-dependent transcription factors. Different alterations of retinoid receptors or in the RA signalling pathway have been found to be associated with tumorigenesis. The success of retinoid-based differentiation therapy in acute promyelocytic leukemia largely contributes to the understanding of the molecular and pharmacological actions of retinoids. The development of selective receptor retinoids offers a great promising class of compounds for cancer therapy and prevention.