RETINOIC ACID RECEPTORS - TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS MODULATING GENE-REGULATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND DIFFERENTIATION

This chapter discusses the relatively new field of retinoic acid receptors (RARs) with that of the biological effects of retinoids and suggests the roles for these receptors and strategies for experimentally examining RAR function and specificity. The RARs are members of a superfamily of ligand-inducible transcription factors that includes the steroid receptors, the thyroid hormone receptors, and the vitamin D3 receptor. The RARs remain a very attractive set of candidate genes that may play pivotal roles in differentiation, development, and gene regulation. The chapter describes the modular structure and the molecular specificity of the steroid receptor-like retinoic acid and retinoid X receptors, the biological roles of retinoic acid as well as the current and future approaches for dissecting the developmental specificity and function of the retinoic acid receptors and retinoid X receptors. © 1992 Academic Press Inc.