CMNS in copertina

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease. Volume 1812, Issue 8, Pages 807-1068 (August 2011)

Special Issue: Translating nuclear receptors from health to disease

Guest Editor: Antonio Moschetta

University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy Consorzio Mario Negri Sud, Santa Maria Imabro (CH), Italy

This special issue focuses on nuclear hormone receptors with a direct view on their involvement in the pathophysiology of several conditions. Indeed, nuclear receptors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of highly frequent diseases such as metabolic syndrome and various types of cancer. Furthermore, most of these 48 proteins are intriguing pharmacological targets since we actually have in clinic several molecules that directly modulate nuclear receptor transcriptional activity as therapeutic strategies. We thus accepted the invitation from the editors to dedicate an entire issue to this family of transcription factors that regulate very important processes in our organism ranging from development, metabolism, and reproduction. Thus, a wide variety of conditions are described in this issue with a multidisciplinary analysis. The reader will find chapters that: a) describe the physical–chemical structure of these proteins; b) underline the importance of bioinformatics to discover novel transcription targets of these receptors; c) present new methodological studies on how to identify the function of these receptors in terms of spatial and temporal distribution in our body. A series of chapters will then describe the relevance of nuclear receptors in different type of diseases. There are reviews on the importance of nuclear receptors in cancer, ranging from hepatocellular to colorectal cancer and hematopoietic malignancies. Other articles focus on the role of nuclear receptors in the pathogenesis and/or treatment of metabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis and diabetes. Finally, there are articles that underscore the function of nuclear receptors and their co-regulators in neurological diseases such as Parkinson, and in conditions affecting the reproductive system and the urinary-kidney function. The success of this issue will depend on its capacity to attract colleagues who are not actually working on nuclear receptors and to provide a space for discussion in the translational relevance of nuclear receptor function in human disease. A lot of work has been done to achieve this goal. A special thanks goes first to all the authors for their important contributions. Then, we thank the reviewers, who did a patient and superb job in helping and increasing the quality of the final manuscripts. Finally, we express our gratitude to the editorial office for the everyday unique support to generate this issue. We hope you enjoy reading this issue and you get intriguing ideas for your future research plans.