Structure
Volume 11, Issue 7, July 2003, Pages 741-746
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Review
Activation of Nuclear Receptors: A Perspective from Structural Genomics

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Abstract

Crystal structures of more than two dozen different nuclear receptor ligand binding domains have defined a simple paradigm of receptor activation, in which agonist binding induces the activation function-2 (AF-2) helix to form a charge clamp for coactivator recruitment. Recent structural studies present a surprising contrast. Activation of the mouse LRH-1 receptor is independent of a bound agonist despite its large ligand binding pocket, whereas the activation of the Drosophila DHR38 receptor is dependent on ecdysteroids even though the receptor lacks a ligand binding pocket. These new findings shed light on the diverse structural mechanisms that nuclear receptors have evolved for activation, and have important implications in their respective signaling pathways.

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