Xu Renjie, Zhang Linyue, Pan Hao, Zhang Yong
Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Department of Ultrasound, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2024 Oct 16;15:1464655. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1464655. eCollection 2024.
Nuclear receptors (NRs) are key regulators of multiple physiological functions and pathological changes in the liver in response to a variety of extracellular signaling changes. Retinoid X receptor (RXR) is a special member of the NRs, which not only responds to cellular signaling independently, but also regulates multiple signaling pathways by forming heterodimers with various other NR. Therefore, RXR is widely involved in hepatic glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, cholesterol metabolism and bile acid homeostasis as well as hepatic fibrosis. Specific activation of particular dimers regulating physiological and pathological processes may serve as important pharmacological targets. So here we describe the basic information and structural features of the RXR protein and its heterodimers, focusing on the role of RXR heterodimers in a number of physiological processes and pathological imbalances in the liver, to provide a theoretical basis for RXR as a promising drug target.
核受体（NRs）是肝脏中多种生理功能和病理变化的关键调节因子，可响应各种细胞外信号变化。视黄酸X受体（RXR）是核受体中的一个特殊成员，它不仅能独立响应细胞信号，还能通过与其他多种核受体形成异二聚体来调节多种信号通路。因此，RXR广泛参与肝脏的葡萄糖代谢、脂质代谢、胆固醇代谢、胆汁酸稳态以及肝纤维化过程。特定二聚体对生理和病理过程的特异性激活可能成为重要的药理学靶点。所以在此我们描述RXR蛋白及其异二聚体的基本信息和结构特征，重点关注RXR异二聚体在肝脏多种生理过程和病理失衡中的作用，为RXR作为一个有前景的药物靶点提供理论依据。
